


treasure

by alicebishop



Series: Gay Vampires Universe [1]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Chan is a cinnamon bun, Fei is just herself, Found Family, Gay Vampires Universe, Haseong is a pirate king, M/M, Pirates, Stray Kids/Twilight Crossover, Swashbuckling lmao, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 03:34:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 29,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30049299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alicebishop/pseuds/alicebishop
Summary: "Haseong's eyes were sharp like knives, red like blood.'Why would I lie to you?'He gently stole my hand and held it up to his lips. As if he might kiss it."Bang Chan has never met anyone so recklessly magnetic, so charmingly insolent, so temptingly misbehaved, as the pirate Bak Haseong.
Relationships: Bang Chan/Bak Haseong (OC)
Series: Gay Vampires Universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2214105
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

##### 1824

The circumstances I found myself in were not unfamiliar. Sitting crosslegged on the beach, gargantuan Aleppo pines at my back, moonlight bouncing off the water. The breeze was warm, ruffling my decades-old tunic and cinched slacks, and the waves were foaming gently at my feet.

I’d wandered the most beautiful beaches and cities and mountain ranges for a century. But there were two key factors that set today apart.

The first was that I had recently learned to weave. The brambles in the forest lent themselves nicely to my hobby. I’d woven myself a hut, a makeshift bed and so many baskets that I had to make a bigger basket to carry them in.

The second was the bloody, bedraggled pirate laying a few meters down the beach. He was in pain, convulsing, gasping air down his throat, hands scraping at the sand beneath him.

He was turning into a vampire. He’d been this way for about five days now. I hadn’t injected him with enough venom, it was prolonging the process. I wanted to apologize, maybe hold his hand, comfort him, but I was hesitant to push any closer. I had adapted to feeding on animal blood in lieu of human, I hadn’t fallen off the wagon since I was a newborn — until I bit him. It had felt impossible to stop once I’d started; the taste still lingered now, prickling on my tongue and smoking in my throat.

I had to admit I wanted to get a closer look at him. I knew he was a pirate because of his attire — the long dirtied jacket, waistcoat and trousers. The sheathed bayonet on his hip was a giveaway as well. I’d been expecting his crew to charge out of the woodwork and snaffle him, but they hadn’t. They must have assumed he was dead — I’d found him half-drowned with his ribcage shattered. Maybe he’d looted the wrong people.

As I sat idly and theorized, I wove and tucked and fiddled with the brambles in my hands. I knew the emotional turmoil of being thrust into a deathlike life was not remediable, but, I’d reasoned with myself, might a fetching hat help? I just hoped I’d finish it by the time he awoke.

I pawed at the sand next to me but came up with nothing. I sighed, pushed myself to my feet and headed into the woods behind me. I ducked under wild reaches of leaves, leapt over massive logs melded to the ground with spongey moss. Brambles gushed down from a rock bluff like a waterfall. I followed a stem with my finger, tore it loose from the growth and shucked the thorns off.

Arms full of brambles, I headed back to the beach. I dropped my spoils onto the sand.

Oh dear.

The pirate was gone.

And something sharp was up against my back.

I cringed and raised my hands. “Good. You’re awake.”

“Don’t move. Try for a weapon and I’ll blast your head off, understand?”

“I have no weapons on me.”

“You had better not.”

His hands patted roughly down my torso and legs, along my arms.

Then I heard his blade slide back into its sheath. “Don’t follow me.”

He strode into the forest. I spun around, gaping; did he not want answers? Even if he didn’t, I had to educate him on his new life, the limitations, the vampire world, lest he slaughter an entire town or break a law he didn’t know existed.

I grabbed the hat and ran after him. “Wait!”

“I said not to—” A sound like a tree splintering in half. _“Shit!”_

When I pushed through the last of the undergrowth, I saw he was slumped over an ancient log, the wood beneath him crushed.

“You need to take it slow,” I said attentively. “Your body doesn’t move the way it used to.”

He scampered out of the wreckage and aimed his bayonet at my face. His voice was taut, gravelly. “How many times do I have to threaten your life before you take a fucking hint?”

“I’m afraid you won’t be able to hurt me, not even with your gun — which I assume is waterlogged anyway.”

He didn’t relax his stance, didn’t take his finger off the trigger. “The blade will work just fine.”

I sighed. “Try to kill me if you want, but this forest has never seen a fight. I’d prefer to keep it that way.”

His eyebrows pulled together. Abruptly, he straightened out and marched deeper into the forest. I followed a safe distance behind him so he wouldn’t pull his gun again. He was staring down at a little contraption — a compass — tapping it with his finger.

“You’re a vampire,” I said bluntly, not sure how to lead into it. “I made you a vampire because you would have died otherwise. That’s why your heart isn’t beating.”

It didn’t seem to phase him.

“I’m here to tell you everything you need to know,” I continued. “I’ll start with the Volturi. They’re an ancient coven based in Italy who act as the rulers of our world. There is only one law: humans cannot know we exist. Any breach of that law is met with annihil—”

“How far is the nearest town?”

I blinked. “Pardon?”

“The nearest town, how far is it?”

“Um, not that far, a mile or—”

“Which direction?”

“You’re on the right track.”

He nodded without turning.

“Moving on,” I said. “There are two methods to sustain ourselves — human blood and animal. I personally subscribe to feeding on animals. Some misconceptions regarding our kind: wooden stakes, onions nor sunlight affect us — a vampire can only be killed with fi—”

“Is there somewhere I could find ammunition in town?”

“Yes, I suppose—”

“A dock?”

“Ye—”

“Is it a wealthy town or a poor one?”

“I have something to say,” I blurted. “I… I made you a hat.”

He turned his head halfway toward me, considered me without slowing his pace. The moonlight caught his cheekbone, shaded the rest of his face, but I could see the gleam of his fangs when his lips came open.

“I don’t wear hats.”

“But I made it a cocked hat. And you — you’re a pirate, aren’t you?”

This time he turned full way round. His features were graceful, drawn in sharp lines. “You don’t know who I am then?”

“Should I?”

He turned again, kept walking. “I guess it doesn’t matter.”

“No, wait, who are you?”

“You’ll learn.”

“Or you could introduce yourself? I’ll start — I’m Bang Chan.”

He wasn’t listening anyway. His hand was on the hilt of his bayonet as the trees thinned and the town came into view, low-standing buildings and deserted cobblestone roads. I was glad he had woken at night; he was obviously on a mission, and I didn’t know how I would have intercepted him if there had been humans in his path.

“I’ve never met someone like you,” I said. “Who just — walked away after you woke.”

“And?”

“I’ve been alive since sixteen ninety-nine. By all accounts, by my own account, when a vampire wakes from turning, they’re disoriented, overstimulated, hungry for information, and desperate for human blood.”

He swallowed, cleared his throat. “Your point?”

“Why aren’t you?”

“I have more to think about.”

“What’s that?”

“Nothing for you to be concerned about. Where’s the ammunition shop?”

“It won’t be open.”

He arched one regal, chestnut-coloured eyebrow.

“It’s down Main Street.”

He marched down the road, looking into the storefronts, and once he saw the sign, he drew his bayonet and slammed the back of it through the window. The glass shattered to the ground around his feet, and he climbed into the building.

“That… was not necessary.” I craned my head into the makeshift entrance.

“Do I look like I care?” He was dumping boxes of ammunition into a burlap sack. “Feel free to flag someone down to put me in my place — or hell, do it yourself.”

A faint glow of light in the second storey windows.

“You woke the owner,” I said, panicking.

“Ah, shame, must be a light sleeper.”

“Look — er — sir, you’re a vampire now, you’re at risk of being compromised by human bl—”

“How weak do you think I am?”

“It’s not about being weak, it’s about being young—”

A door at the back of the store swung open, and a man strode through, a pistol in one hand and a lantern in the other.

“I’ve a gun, crook, don’t move a goddamned muscle!”

He held the lantern up to the pirate’s face. His skin went white.

“Bak Haseong,” he murmured. “I-I’m sorry — I haven’t seen a thing, I swear on my life.”

The pirate grinned, still focussed on his sack of ammunition. “Obliged. Be off.”

The owner stumbled back through the doorway and the light went with him. Haseong threw the sack over his shoulder and headed out through the window.

“Who are you again?” My jaw was hanging open.

“I’m a pirate.” He took the hat from my hands and perched it on his head. “And that’s about all you need to know.”


	2. Chapter 2

The pirate — Bak Haseong — obviously had a reputation. By the reaction of the townsman, I guessed he was not someone to be taken lightly. Now that he was a vampire, I couldn’t imagine what he would do with the gifts he had at his disposal.

I suppose that was why I was following him down the abandoned cobblestone road, twenty feet behind, watching his back. Not to mention he was mysterious and exciting and I hadn’t done anything except weave baskets and ponder the meaning of life for the last decade. Perhaps I wanted to see where this would end.

“Bang Chan,” he said suddenly, not turning, “you seem to know the area. Where might I find a wharf around here?”

“After your… incursion back at the shop, I don’t know if I should tell you.”

“How much harm could I do?”

“We both know how much.”

He spun around, walked backward as he scanned me. His voice was wry. “As far as you know, I’m just an unlucky scoundrel, left with nothing, not even dry clothes.” He abruptly veered off course. “Hm, now that I think of it.”

“What—?”

He smashed the butt of his bayonet through a boutique window and hopped inside.

I rubbed my temples. “Most of these doors are probably unlocked, you know.”

“I know.”

I looked inside — and quickly turned away as I saw he was changing.

I cleared my throat. “I’m not naive and you’re not discreet. Plus, pirates aren’t known for being the most harmonious people.”

“I tried harmony once. Much too boring.”

A playful shove on my arm. He walked past me, dressed in a jacket that hung down to his ankles and a billowing white shirt hugged to his torso with a waistcoat. I couldn’t deny how attractive he was, his face, his body, everything. Was I staring?

I looked up. “What was the question?”

“I was asking directions to the wharf. But if you still refuse to answer because I might do something untoward, I’m sure can find it on my own.”

“Well, _will_ you be doing something untoward?”

“Definitely.”

“Then I refuse to answer.”

He stopped, took a deep breath through his nose and then recalibrated east. “Water is this way, isn’t it?”

I sighed. “Yes. Why are you looking for a wharf?”

“Where else am I supposed to find a ship?”

“You’re going to steal a ship?”

“I’m going to _borrow_ a ship. Except I won’t bring it back.”

I rubbed my temples again. This turn of events was boding worse for humanity every step he took. “I guess I shouldn’t have been expecting anything different. Why can’t you just acquire a ship by legitimate means? Why must it always be take take take? And why—?”

I didn’t realize he had stopped — I bumped into him and stumbled backward. He just smiled, seeming to take a kind of delight in my bearing, or lack thereof.

“Chan, what are you doing here?”

“Here?”

“With me. I saw your shack on the beach, yet still, you’re following me.”

“I don’t think you understand the gravity of your new… status.”

“What status is that?”

“You are a vampire. You’re more dangerous than you realize.”

“I don’t think I believe you. You’re here for another reason. What might it be? Curiosity? Control? Sheer boredom? Or maybe you find me alluring.”

My mouth fell open. I closed it and crossed my arms. “Maybe I’ll go back to my shack and forget you entirely.”

He walked backward down the road, eyes on mine. I followed.

“Whatever your reason is,” he said, smiling, “you’re here now, leaving your home behind. You might as well tell me about yourself.”

“Uh. I am… Bang Chan.”

“Something more than your name?”

“I am… unsure as to why this is relevant.”

“Alright, since you’re not answering, I will tell you what I’ve observed so far. I think you are cautious, methodical. You live based on need, not want — anything extra is an indulgence.”

“Still not sure why this is relevant.”

“You have a moral code — you don’t eat humans, you didn’t want to sully the forest with violence. You overshare and say things plainly, which leads me to believe you’re not socially inclined, intentionally or otherwise.”

“If this is a game you insist on playing, then it’s only fair I get a turn. You, sir, are… not very nice.”

He laughed. “I’m wounded!”

Then, abruptly, he dropped his sack of ammunition, his bayonet as well, and bowed to me.

“Please accept my apology, Mr. Bang, I am remorseful.”

“I can’t tell whether you’re pulling my leg or not.”

He straightened out and moved toward me. His eyes were sharp like knives and red like blood. “Why would I lie to you?” He gently stole my hand, held it up to his lips as if he might kiss it. He walked a circle around me and I turned with him.

“Uh,” I said.

He held my hand a second longer, let it fall and continued on his way. Naturally, I followed.

“Even with what I’ve gleaned, I would like to know more about you,” he said. “As long as you insist on accompanying me, you might as well open up.”

“I don’t _insist_ on accompanying you anywhere. But… could I?”

“If I’m being completely honest, I prefer having people around me. The more manpower, the better, right? Plus, couldn’t hurt to have a guide to help me navigate my new _status.”_

“Why exactly do you need manpower in the first place? You’ve been single-minded and stubborn this whole time — you have a plan, don’t you?”

“Perhaps I do.”

The dock was approaching, masts peeking over the buildings. I was nervous — not only because I knew a crime was about to be committed. This was where I had to make a decision. I couldn’t keep following him, mindlessly, just because I wanted to. His sights were set somewhere in the wide world, somewhere it wouldn’t be easy to come back from.

He walked across a spindly bridge and onto the docks. The ships berthed in front of us varied in size, each flying a fisherman’s flag and none very menacing. I wondered what he was looking for, and then he answered my question.

“I don’t smell gunpowder in the air… blast it.”

“If you’re looking for a pirate ship, maybe a fisherman’s wharf isn’t the best place to find it.”

“A pirate ship is just a ship with a pirate on it. Besides, there’s always the opportunity to level up once we’re on the water.”

He stopped, appraising a large craft bobbing in the water. “This one should be adequate.” He swiftly drew his bayonet, slashed through the ropes mooring the ship to the dock, leapt and landed on the taffrail above.

I stood with my arms at my sides. Away from the calm of my little cove, I hadn’t expected uncharted waters to be so tempting. I didn’t even care that the little I owned had probably blown away in the wind by now.

“Well?” he said, an invitation.

I took the leap, twenty feet into the air and onto the wooden deck.

“Welcome aboard.” Haseong clapped me once on the shoulder, walked over to the mast and let the sail fall with a flick of his hand. He continued to the helm, taking the eight-pointed wheel and spinning it to the side. The ship began to drift away from the wharf, toward an open and uninterrupted sea.

Good Lord, what was I doing?


	3. Chapter 3

Watching Bak Haseong in his natural habitat was a little bit fascinating. He moved with purpose, always on a mission. He had been hauling things up from below deck for a while, heaving most of it overboard. Fishing equipment and personal effects, according to him it had been slowing down the ship.

There was something wearing on my mind. It wasn’t only Haseong’s vague goals, or whatever reason he had for keeping me around — it was a sound. A beat, docile and muted. I’d chocked it up to the ocean, the creaking ship, but when Haseong disappeared for too long of a time, my brain started to percolate.

I leapt through a hatch in the deck, landed in the hallway below. The waves and wind outside dulled and the beat sharpened.

It was a heartbeat. The smell of a human was in the air. Someone was on the ship.

“What on earth,” I murmured.

“He’s squatting in the cargo hold,” said a voice from behind me. I spun around. Haseong had his back to me, leaning over a wide table in a room lined with unlit lanterns.

“He? Who’s he?”

“A stowaway. Unfortunate for him, hm?”

“Can’t you smell him? You haven’t fed yet, you should be rabid by now.”

“Trust me, I’m desperate. But I figured you would be put out with me if I killed him, so I decided not to.”

“You just… _decided_ not to?” And he decided for _me?_

“We’re a team now. Of course it would be a massive relief if you were to tell me I was wrong in my reasoning…?”

“No, you did the right thing. It’s honourable.” I strolled closer, satisfied. “We can take a detour to hunt. There are loads of animals in these forests.”

“Mhm,” he murmured briefly. His eyes were glued to the table, to the sprawling map laid over it. He’d marked a route in pencil, lines like laces stitching the landmasses together. There were five stops, each ticked with an X.

“What’s all this?”

“I suppose it’s time I explain.” He took the pencil and scratched a dot into the blue ocean, connected it to the lines he’d already drawn. “This is where we are, roughly. We’re heading down this strait to the east. We’ll be stopping at each of these marks.”

“What are we looking for?”

“Keys.”

“Keys? For what?”

“To unlock” — he poked the last X — “this key.”

“You know what, start from the beginning. Spare no detail.”

“Fine. Have you ever heard of Pi Heiran?”

“I don’t think so.”

“He’s a pirate from the early 18th century. He amassed a fortune and a cultish following, only to come down with syphilis. Before he died, he hid his treasure. The only way to find it is to claim the six keys he left along the strait. He instructed in his will that the maps be distributed to the most prominent pirates one-hundred years after his death.”

“So we’re on a treasure hunt.”

“Not just us. The challenge has attracted some very, very keen competition. They must have quite a head-start on me now — how long was I out?”

“Five days or so.”

He winced. “Blast it, we’re worse off than I thought. The others have probably already found the first key, maybe even the second.” He started scribbling on the map again.

“What if another pirate has a key? Does that mean the treasure is his?”

“Once a key has been claimed, it becomes a game of keep-away, as it were. Someone will kill whoever has it, and then someone else will kill them. Whoever has the first five keys will unlock the sixth — and the treasure.”

“Hm. Haseong, I wonder… if you were on your way to claim the treasure, how did you end up dying?”

He still didn’t meet my eyes. I thought I saw his jaw flex.

“A fight with a rival. I fell off my ship and was caught in the undertow.”

“Then your crew are still out there. They must be sorry to lose you. You were the captain, right?”

“Yes. Two others and myself. They likely don’t mind my absence; now they’ll only have to split the prize two ways.”

“Oh. They would really disregard your death like that?”

“Don’t be surprised by betrayal. Betrayal is the standard. You should not trust anybody out here.”

“Not even you?”

His eyes were serious. “No, not even me.”

“Then… then I don’t think I will take your advice.” I looked away, down at the map. “Anyway. If we’re going to be in close proximity with these human pirates, we have to hide our eyes.” I took the pencil from his hand and wrote on the corner of the map. “First order of business, find a clothier… no, hunting might be more pressing.”

“This won’t be very time-consuming, will it?”

“Just a couple stops on our way. If I’m right…” I drew a circle on the map. “This here is the nearest town. We will dock, get in, get out, and be back on the water in no time.”

“As long as it doesn’t take too long.”

* * *

“This is taking too long.”

“I thought there would be more animals around here.” I peeked into a shrub as if a whole mountain cat might be hiding inside. “We just have to keep looking.”

“You have exactly five minutes to prove this isn’t pointless or I’m going back to the ship.”

“This is in your best interest, you know. If you don’t feed soon you’ll become even more obnoxious than you already are.”

He snorted. “So vampires get crabby when they’re hungry. How much worse could it get?”

“Well, delirium, frenzy, disconnect from consciousness and reality. I assume at some point your malnourished body would stop working, and your shrivelling mind would descend into a purgatory of sorts, alive but not, agonized for the rest of eternity.”

“You’re just trying to unnerve me.”

“I know better than to attempt to frighten such a fearsome marauder.

“Oh so he’s capable of sarcasm.” He bumped my arm playfully. “Hey, look, maybe I can eat this thing.”

“First, it’s drink, and second, that’s a gecko.”

“S’pose it’s too scanty.” He let the gecko skitter onto a tree branch.

“Alright alright, enough talking. We must be vigilant, on the lookout for anything with a heartbeat. What do you think, which way should we go now? Er, Haseong?”

When I turned around, he was forty paces ahead, marching through the woods. I ran to catch up.

“Haseong?”

“I think I hear something.”

We crested the hill, peeking through the edge of trees. In front of us was a pasture of grazing sheep.

“Ah, that’s fortunate.” He promptly raised his bayonet to his eye.

I shoved it down. “Good Lord — what in blazes! Just stay here, I will fetch you one.”

“You’ll _fetch_ me one? What am I, your hatchling?”

“Gratitude,” I reminded him. “I am bending my protocol for you since time is of the essence. Stay here.”

I walked down the hill and into the herd. I said a quick prayer before I picked up a ram from behind. Surprisingly it didn’t wiggle or fight, just continued munching on the gob of grass in its mouth.

I brought it back to Haseong and set it down in front of him.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it,” I said.

“Where are you going?”

“Town, to look for a clothier. Meet me back at the ship once you’re finished here.”

“Aren’t you going to teach me how to do it?”

“I thought you weren’t my hatchling.”

Haseong narrowed his eyes. The sheep baaed.

I left them to their business. After a brisk walk through the forest, I could hear the beginnings of human chatter, clip-clopping against the cobblestone road. I leapt from the branches of a spruce to the wooden shingles of a tavern and along the gable roof, following the geese flying over my head.

I knew when I had come across a clothier; I heard the excited chirping of gentlewomen in lavish dresses. I slid down the roof into the back alley, landed on my toes. Lucky for me, there was a jumble of garbage — scrap material, broken spools, tangled thread — laying at my feet. I kneeled to rummage through it.

A door down the alley screeched open. I scrambled to hide in the heap of clothing, playing dead amongst the linens. Shoes pattered toward me — something plopped against my back — and then strode away again.

I lifted my head. The stranger’s dress was made of a lush, inky silk. It was perfect. I stumbled out of the garbage pile and shadowed her to the door, propping it open with a flick of my shoe.

This may end badly for me, I thought. Oh well. I was on the way to becoming a picaroon, why not flirt with destruction of property while I was at it?

I slipped in the door. Inside was a room of humans, each poring over a needle and thread. I peeked through the bolts of fabric, eyes following the one in black.

“This is _appalling,”_ she growled down at one of the seamstresses. “If you don’t know how to do a blasted backstitch then you don’t deserve to be in my employ. Start over — now.”

I crawled underneath the shelves, reaching for the skirt of her dress. I was about to tear a piece off but I feared the sound that would come with it. Instead I bit into the silk; my teeth sliced through it easily. I stuffed the small swatch into my pocket and shimmied out from under the shelves.

“Oh goodness! Madam, your skirt! It’s been torn!”

I heard the echo of pandemonium as I slipped out the door.

* * *

Haseong was waiting for me outside the forest, on the edge of a bluff. “Have fun at the boutique?”

“I’m afraid I’m more impressionable than I thought. I’ve known you for a day and I’ve already committed petty theft.”

“I wish I could’ve seen that.” He rumpled my hair a bit. “You have thread in your hair.”

“For a moment in time, I was one with a pile of trash. You have wool in your teeth.”

He covered his mouth. “Right. It was awkward… until it wasn’t.” His fangs were still peeking over his lips. “I’ve never had to dispose of a non-human body before — especially not such a shrivelled one.”

“Welcome to the life, I suppose.”

We walked the bluff, jumped onto the ship. The waves were small and gentle, rocking the vessel, and the seagulls were squalling overhead. I was about to release the sails when I heard footsteps from behind us, and the sound of a gun cocking.

“Neither of ya bastards move. Get off my ship and there’ll be no bloodshed, you hear me?”

It was the unfortunate stowaway from the cargo hold. His face was scruffy and furrowed, a rifle in his hands, aim switching back and forth between us.

Haseong’s voice was bored, slightly irritated. “Put the gun down. This isn’t even your ship to begin with.”

“Don’t get too close,” I said. “Don’t breathe. Don’t look at him straight on.”

“Y’all got ten seconds to get off my ship,” the man said, a warning.

Haseong’s nostrils flared. “You think you’re faster than me, old man? I’ll show you—”

“Haseong,” I snapped.

Suddenly the man raised his gun, fired one deafening shot into the air; Haseong shrieked, all but collapsed to the deck, taking his head in his arms.

“That was your last goddamn warning!” the man shouted.

I marched toward him — he fired again but I snatched the gun out of his hands, took him by the scruff of his shirt and shooed him off the ship. He knew I was too strong, dangerous; he fled into the woods, leaving the rifle behind.

Haseong was still balled up, trembling, backed against the side of the ship. What had gotten into him? Surely he’d heard gunfire before.

He flinched as I put my hand on his knee. His expression folded into embarrassment and his body unfurled.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Fine,” he said sharply. “Forget it. We should go before any more crackpots get in our way.”

“The gunshot scared you, why is that?”

“It didn’t _scare_ me, I just wasn’t expecting it — what the fuck is it to you anyway?”

My eyes narrowed. So quick to anger. I decided to distract him rather than push further for an explanation. He’d tell me someday.

I crossed my legs, settled down in front of him. “You know I visited a clothier in town.”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Haseong, you are doing exceptionally well — controlling yourself, abstaining from humans. But there’s more to worry about. For example, your eyes are quite vibrant right now. It could turn out badly if anyone was to get a good enough look at them.”

“And?” He was annoyed with my preamble.

“An old friend taught me how to make coverings for my eyes out of material like silk, linen, etcetera, in case I had no option but to interact with humans.” I took the swatch of silk out of my pocket. “They’ll eventually disintegrate with the venom in our eyes, but I figured it might carry us through a few run-ins with your pirate friends.”

“You’re telling me to put fabric on my eyeballs?”

“Yes. Do you want to do a test trial?”

He deliberated, hands still shaking ever so faintly. “Okay.”

I lifted the fabric to my teeth and nibbled it into a circle. He watched me like I was an alien.

“Come a bit closer,” I said. He scooted up, leaning toward me. I thumbed his eyelid out of the way and slowly set the little round piece of silk over his iris.

His eye was twitching. “That’s weird, I don’t like it.”

“You can see through it though, right?”

“I guess so. Will it really fool anybody?”

“From a safe distance, yes. Try to refrain from getting into any close-up scuffles. Er, refrain from getting into any scuffles at all. You might throw a punch and accidentally decapitate someone.”

“If someone gets decapitated, it’ll be on purpose.”

“You like to seem tough, don’t you?”

“You like to therapize me, don’t you?”

I looked back and forth between his mismatched eyes. I suppose one of us could have backed up or moved away, but we… didn’t.

“Where do we go from here?” I asked. “Is it just treasure hunting and pirate adventures now? Where will this end?”

“It will end with me claiming my treasure. Half, I suppose. If you’re still with me at the sixth key, I’m willing to split it.”

“That’s not necessary.”

“You’re really not here for the money then. Tell me, what do you want out of this?”

“A… friend, maybe.”

“Where will you find one of those?” His face changed. “Oh, me?”

I was just realizing I sounded a bit pathetic. “Yeah.”

“I’ve never really had a friend before.”

“I’ve had many. None stay very long. They move and I move, they die and I don’t.”

“So you choose to befriend a pirate? You do realize we aren’t the reliable sort.”

“Don’t get me wrong, Haseong — I fear an excess of your company may drive me into an early grave.”

He smiled. It was warm. “Then we should get a move on. Time is of the essence.”

He slapped my shoulder and pushed himself to his feet. The spring was back in his step. I sat on the deck and watched him raise the anchor, release the sails. Time was of the essence. My time to feel alive, to misbehave. My time with him.


	4. Chapter 4

The last time I had found myself at sea, I’d been on my way from Europe to Greenland in 1738, travelling as a guest on a kind fisherman’s boat. I’d spent most of the journey below deck, sucking on ginger root to ease my stomach. The swaying, speeds and odour of fish totted up to an unfortunate mélange.

I’d sailed many times since then, and every time I felt more and more at home. The ocean was just as beautiful a part of earth as fluttering cherry blossoms or the sky at sunset. I stood at the very edge of the bow, arms spread and eyes shut, listening closely as if the wind was whispering to me.

“Chan, come over here,” Haseong said from behind me.

“Why?”

“Open your eyes.”

I looked into the distance. Land was approaching, a beach curved around the mouth of a cave. A ship twice as big as ours was sailing toward us, a flag of black billowing in the wind.

I stepped away from the bow, stood next to him behind the wheel. “Are we in danger? Or is that one of your friends?”

His lip curled. “None of these men are my friends. His name is Captain Eogeum Myung.”

“His ship is quite… big.”

“As is his crew. It’s all a show. His father was a better pirate than he could ever be.”

“If he’s coming toward us, away from land… does this mean this key has been taken?”

“It’s likely. I’ll ask Myung who claimed it — though if it’s him, he won’t tell me. Those who have the keys might as well have a target on their forehead.”

“So we’re going to be speaking with him?” I pulled the swatch of silk out of my pocket and bit away at it.

“That isn’t necessary,” Haseong said. “We’ll barely be close enough to hear each other. I’ll tip my hat down if it makes you feel any better.”

“You cannot lose your temper if they threaten us, alright?”

“Yeah yeah, I get it.” He ribbed me. “Nervous to meet a pirate?”

I adjusted my shirt. “I’ve already met one. Nothing to be afraid of.”

Eogeum Myung’s ship came closer and closer. The crew were on deck, celebrating, slapping each other on the back. I could tell who captained the vessel; he was dressed lavishly, tall and wide, a chalice where the others had tankards.

Haseong headed to the stern, lowered the anchor, then walked starboard, leaning against the rail. Myung had been watching our ship, leery, curious. I saw recognition cross his face.

“Slow the ship,” he whispered to a crewman. “Drop anchor.”

The ship obeyed him, slowed across from us. Myung approached the edge, ringed fingers drumming against his chalice.

“Captain Bak,” he called. “As I live and breathe. I thought you were dead. Though I suppose I should not have taken your ‘co-captains’ on their word.”

“I’m sure they’ve said a lot about me.” Haseong’s voice was cold and flat. “I should have expected you to jump on the old man’s fortune.”

“As did you and your former crew — and now you and your… new one.” Myung’s eyes flitted over me. “Working with the hand you’ve been dealt, hm?”

“I assume this destination has treated you well,” Haseong changed the subject. “Or are you celebrating failure?”

Myung polished off his drink before answering. “You always were one to jump to conclusions. Quite the contrary, it’s for morale. Old Ahn Kwangsun claimed the key — him and that harlot on his arm.”

I didn’t believe him. Haseong didn’t either; his tone was slightly amused. “As you say. Who claimed the first?”

“The Hound. He killed Captain Yu for it.”

“To hell with him. Only the strongest should pursue Pi’s map.”

“You are hardly one to speak. Where did you find your ship, a fisherman’s wharf?”

I snorted. Haseong made an obscene gesture behind his back.

“I’m sure Lazarus had to make concessions as well,” he said.

Myung laughed once, humourless. He told a crewman to raise the anchor, and then looked back to Haseong. “I wish you luck, though I doubt it will do you much good. Whatever the outcome, your determination speaks volumes.”

“My victory will speak even louder.”

Myung just smiled, held his chalice out for a refill. The ship slowly began to move again, down the strait eastward.

Haseong hawked and spat over the edge. “Sluggard.”

I went to his side. “He has the second key — we should go before we fall behind.”

“Didn’t you hear what his men were saying?”

“No?”

“‘HMS Glory imminent from the west.’ It means the navy have been notified of the race for Pi’s fortune. They know significant pirates will be travelling the strait and they’re coming to arrest whomever they can catch.”

“Then all the more reason to leave, right?”

Haseong’s eyes were still narrowed at Myung in the distance. “Our ship is pitiable. It’s a fucking fishing boat — I should have known it would make us look like a joke. We should endeavour to… procure a better one.”

“Is that really a priority?”

“Myung might have seemed harmless enough, but the others won’t be so amiable. We need cannons, we need a defence system.”

“And, what, you’re saying you want to hijack a naval ship? How do you plan to do that?”

“All we have to do is get close, and then…” He smiled at me, vicious.

“Haseong, as long as I’m here, no one is dying, especially not by your hand.”

He opened his mouth to argue but stopped short. He must have seen the resolution on my face. He spun on his heel and headed toward the stern.

“How do you suggest we level up instead?” he asked.

“Er. I don’t know. Could we trick them into docking and steal the ship then?”

“And what will we do when they recognize my face and try to haul me off to the gibbet? Let me answer — I’ll kill them all and we’ll be back to the original plan of action.”

“What if your face was covered? Or I did all the talking and then you snuck onboard afterward? I could tell them I’d seen a pirate in the woods and lead them to land.”

“What’s the chance every one of them will disembark? And what about when they realize you were an accomplice? Do you really want a record with the Empire?”

I rubbed my temples. “I’m trying my best here.”

He sighed. “Chan, I get that you’re a pacifist, but there is no such thing as peace out here.”

“There has to be a way, let me think.”

He was about to leave me to ruminate, but then he turned back and said, “Look, I don’t want to feed into your dovishness, but I have a plan you might like. It requires your ability to lie, deceive — can you do it?”

“Yes, of course. As long as no one is harmed.”

* * *

The HMS Glory was a grand ship, sleek wooden hull cruising through the water, a Union Jack bristling in the wind. It was still a mile away but I could see the sailors standing in formation, each with a gun resting on their shoulder. Fog was moving in, sitting atop the water and blurring into the distance.

I was planting the silk into Haseong’s eyes. He took a minute to blink them into place and then did the same for me.

“Did you get the map?” I asked.

“Yes — and this.” He gave me a coil of rope and crossed his wrists. I tied his hands together.

“This is going to be humiliating,” he murmured. “Imagine a pirate of my caliber, brought to my knees by… you.”

“You should watch your tongue.”

“Or what, Mr. all-life-is-precious?”

I pulled the rope taut. “I suppose you’ll never know.”

He sunk to his knees, hung his head. I turned to the approaching ship. Within minutes they were monitoring us through telescopes.

“Hey!” I yelled. “Er — help! I’m in danger!”

“Very convincing,” Haseong teased. I kicked him quickly and kept shouting. The ship was even larger up close — the sailors had to lean over the edge to see us.

“Is something wrong?” The one who spoke seemed like the captain.

“Yes! This pirate abducted me! His name is Bak Haseong!”

The captain’s jaw fell open. I heard the surge of murmurs from above, echoes of his name and orders to fetch the handcuffs. A row of rifles pointed down, each aimed at Haseong.

“Bak Haseong,” the captain said, “confirm your identity.”

Haseong raised his head halfway and growled, still slouched and disoriented like I had given him a beating.

“That’s him,” the captain muttered. “Lower the ladder.”

A rope ladder dropped over the edge and touched down on our ship. A pair of sailors scaled down and took Haseong by the tops of his arms, shoving him toward the ladder. He climbed it laboriously, hands still tied, each move watched by a dozen guns. The sailors climbed up after him and I followed.

“Are you injured, sir?” the captain asked me.

“I don’t think so.” I turned to Haseong. “This man is a fiend.”

Haseong’s lip curled up.

The ropes snapped easily as he pried his hands apart — the sailors lost their grip, fell to the deck as he shoved them out of his path. He lunged forward, locked an arm around me, the point of his bayonet against the side of my neck — all before a single gunshot could ring out. All I saw were barrels pointed at my face, fingers fidgeting against the triggers.

“Stand down, Bak,” said the captain, “you’re outnumbered.”

“Put down the weapons,” Haseong growled.

“Sir, he’s in my sights,” said one of the crewman.

“I’ll kill him.” The blade pressed against my skin.

The crew eyed their captain. He was staring at Haseong with contempt, like Haseong had escaped him a hundred times before. With a wave of his hand, the sailors set the weapons down.

“Get in the lifeboat and row away,” Haseong said. The men tentatively backed off and filed into the boat attached to the side of the ship. Haseong slashed a cable and the boat took a controlled plummet to the water below. Their eyes were on us as they rowed away from the ship.

The edge of Haseong’s blade scraped along my throat. It felt like the touch of a feather. I pitched to the deck and lay on my back, watching Haseong head for the helm on the quarterdeck. I could feel the ship moving, faster than the old one — the masts were double in size. The voices of the sailors, aghast and irate, faded into the fog.

“You can get up now,” Haseong called.

I got up and brushed myself off, climbing onto the quarterdeck. “I didn’t expect them to capitulate so easily.”

“It’s procedure to protect civilian lives above all else. They’re rather like you, I suppose.”

“And remind me why you had to kill me?”

“We wouldn’t want them to think you were an accomplice — or send an armada to save you, for that matter.”

“So it wasn’t just a show of power?”

“That was a bonus.” He smiled grimly. “I like to make them gape, like they’re seeing the devil in me. Fucking limeys — slaughter millions and ravage their land, auction and own others as property, yet somehow I’m the villain?”

“You’re not exactly _innocent_ either, are you?”

He shrugged. “At least I got to piss off some Brits.”

“Sometimes I wonder if you’ve ever respected anything or anyone in your life.”

“I only respect those worthy of it.”

“Hm. Very roguish… Captain.”

“Why is that so pleasing to hear coming from you?” He smiled at me sideways and moved on before I could bluster out a response. “Now that we won’t be laughed out of the race, we may have an actual chance at getting the third key. I’m excited for you to get a taste of gold and glory. It’s rather addicting.”

“I doubt I’ll fall under greed’s spell.”

“It’s not greed though, is it? The desperation to find it, the fight to claim it, the pride to own it — it’s all yours, no one else’s… perhaps it’s a little greedy. But what’s the harm in that?”

“I could quite literally list all the ‘harms in that’ right now.”

“Please don’t. Just wait, you’ll understand. Soon enough.”


	5. Chapter 5

While Haseong and I travelled the strait, I occupied myself by exploring our newly acquired ship. I climbed down the ladder into a dimly lit hallway, opened the door into a room of hammocks hanging from the ceiling. There were a few plates of half-eaten human food and a bottle of rum next to a cribbage board.

I ventured down another flight and found myself in a room lined with cannons. Blocks of wood were wedged under the wheels, ropes pooled around them on the floor. The ports were closed but the cannons looked ready and eager to be fired.

A level lower was a maze of steel-doored jail cells. I left quickly; I didn’t want to think of the people who may have been trapped here, the final words uttered from behind bars.

I climbed up a few levels; I looked upon faded lanterns, an armoury of weapons, a grandiose painting of George IV. My exploration ended above deck once again, at a door beneath the quarterdeck marked as the great cabin. It was spacious, tidy, with velvet curtains hanging down to the floor. A desk was to my right, a lavoritory to my left, and an empty bed in front of me, big enough for two.

Haseong suddenly shouted my name — I ran out of the cabin. He was manning the wheel, pointing ahead. We were nearing land, a beach under the nose of a wild towering mountain. There were ships anchored all around us, each empty and each bigger than the next.

“Drop anchor,” he called.

I saluted, scuttled to the stern and heaved the anchor overboard. It pierced the water and sank into the depths. The ship slowed, rocking in the gentle tide. When I turned again, Haseong was in front of me, a sword in his hand.

“You should take this,” he said.

“I won’t need it.”

“You need to _look_ like you need it. Wouldn’t it be suspicious, an unarmed human in a room full of pirates?”

I took it, squeezed the hilt. It felt wrong in my hands. “Will you have one too?”

He patted his bayonet. “It might as well be just a sword. I can’t see myself firing it again.”

“Right… that.” I was suddenly worried what might happen once we were surrounded by gun-wielding criminals. “What should I do? You know, if there’s gunfire and you…?”

His expression darkened. “Forget that, it was a onetime thing.”

“Shouldn’t we come up with a contingency?”

“Even more pressing, we should plan for an occasion where blood is spilt and I’m unable to control myself. What will we do then?”

I bit my thumbnail. “Let me think.”

“Can you think on the move?” He passed me, heading for one of the lifeboats that still remained. I followed.

We rowed from the ship to the shore, stood on the beach and applied silk to each other’s eyes. I had to confess, I liked the way he touched me. He was more gentle than I had expected, more gentle than he’d probably admit.

I’d forgotten that he was not yet accustomed to his speed; it was a practice in trial and error to make it up the side of the mountain. I could smell the rival pirates in the undergrowth, sour perspiration and alcohol.

Our journey’s end was a swallet nestled into the bedrock. I heard voices echoing from deep inside the mountain, dampened by babbling water. We crawled inside, through a tunnel of dripping moss and skittering spiders, and out into a gaping cavern, a river running through it.

“Lift with your knees damnit!”

A group of people was gathered at the end of the cavern, where the river ran into a waterfall. The crewmen wore ratty shirts and slacks, eyeing each other, oriented around their respective captains. Haseong quickly told me their names.

At the centre of the chaos was a shaky human pyramid commanded by Eogeum Myung. “Stretch! Reach!”

“You’re getting nowhere.” A gnarled man nicknamed The Hound spoke. He was squatting at the edge of the cave, away from the others.

“Shut your mouth. Speak when you’ve proffered a better plan than I have.”

Haseong slung his bayonet over his shoulder. “Standing around like lemons, are we?”

The crowd turned in unison, murmurs rising as they saw his face. _Isn’t he supposed to be dead?_ Myung continued yelling at his men, bored of the old news.

“What’s going on?” Haseong asked. His voice was different when he spoke to pirates — sharper and meaner.

“Why don’t you look for yourself?” A wiry man named Ahn Kwangsun gestured with one veined hand.

We looked up, above the waterfall. From somewhere over the cave’s mouth, a thin wire bridged the space between the mountain and an enormous pine. In the middle of the wire was a piece of copper carved into a jagged shape, suspended too far and too high for any human to reach.

“We’ve tried all we can think of,” The Hound said. “What _are_ you doing here, Bak?”

“And with a brand new puppy hiding behind your shoulder,” Kwangsun said, tickled. “C’mere, puppy, c’mere!” He whistled at me; his crew snickered.

Suddenly a voice broke through. _“Bak Haseong!”_ With it a woman barged out of the crowd, shoving men out of her way, sword drawn already. I took Haseong’s wrist, about to pull him behind me, but someone else ran after the woman and held her back.

“Let go, Shao!” she snarled, fighting against her partner’s grip. “Haseong, you bastard — you were supposed to die, I killed you!”

I looked at Haseong, confused. These must have been his former co-captains, the ones he said “probably didn’t mind his absence.” I was beginning to think that was an understatement.

The man holding her back, Shao, seemed more confused than angry. “How did you do it? How are you still alive?”

“I wasn’t meant to die,” Haseong said. “I have treasure to claim.”

“Ooh very interesting!” Kwangsun chirped, clasping his hands together gleefully. “A battle between a dead man and his murderers.”

“We will not fight today,” Shao said. “There is no need.”

“Why not? Are you afraid of me?” Haseong’s hand moved to his bayonet. I took his elbow, trying to caution him, but he shrugged me off.

“You were never frightening,” the female said. “You’re just a leech, gratuitously cruel and weak!”

“I _built_ our crew from the ground up, Iseul.”

“And you bled us dry for your own gain! That’s why I killed you — you deserved to die!”

He was staring at her, a smile pulling at his lips. “And you failed. Though that comes as no surprise — failure is natural for you, isn’t it?”

Iseul jerked free of her restraints, barrelled toward us with her blade drawn; Haseong grabbed his bayonet, slashed it out, and before I could stop him, the swords collided. Only one shattered to pieces.

A ringing laugh cut through the second of silence. There was but one other woman in the circle, eyes covered with a veil, arm linked with Ahn Kwangsun. Her lips twisted up at the corners.

“What… the fuck…” Iseul was looking down at the broken sword in her hands.

“My God!” Myung suddenly shouted. “The key!”

The copper key had vanished, the wire was cut. The captains and crew looked among themselves, hands on their weapons.

“Who has it?” Kwangsun drew a pistol from his belt. “I’ll shoot you where you stand!”

“It was the demon!” Iseul shouted at Haseong. “He’s a demon!”

“This is absurd,” Myung scoffed. “The key must have fallen to the bottom of the waterfall.”

He and his crew ran for the exit, followed by Ahn Kwangsun and his accomplice. The Hound left as well, moving in an all-fours crouch, his men following. Iseul and Shao led their company around Haseong and I — Iseul stopped to spit at our feet.

“You will see hell. Soon.”

The cavern was empty.

I dropped my sword, took my face in my hands. “Jesus Christ, Haseong.”

He walked past me, heading for the forest — I caught up. I wanted to chivvy him for answers but I could barely get my questions straight.

Haseong sped down the side of the mountain.

“Aren’t we going to search for the key?” I called.

“To hell with it. I’ll wait for those simpletons to collect it for me.”

Once at the shore, he climbed into the lifeboat and waited for me to get in. All the ships were still sitting idly on the water, lanterns glowing brighter as the day got darker. We fastened the boat to the ship and climbed onboard. He immediately headed for the helm, eager to shove off.

“Get to it,” he said.

“What?”

“Scolding me. I shouldn’t have goaded her on.”

I sighed. “No, you shouldn’t have. At least the fight didn’t continue. Haseong, the woman, Iseul — she said she killed you. Is that true?”

His eyes squeezed shut, his jaw clenched tight. “Yes, they killed me. Both of them. They fired a cannon at my chest and left me to drown.”

“That’s why you’re afraid of gunfire.”

“I’m not afraid,” he growled. “It was the last thing I heard before I… I just don’t like the sound.”

“Why did they murder you?”

“I tried to ruin them. I planned to incite a schism, buy a new ship and offer the crew a better pay if they stayed loyal to me. I wanted to be the sole captain, I didn’t want to divide the winnings between the three of us.”

“But why?”

“Didn’t you hear what they said? I was cruel. I… am cruel.”

I couldn’t accept that. There was good in him, I was sure of it. “But… you are kind to me.”

“Chan, this is what I meant when I said you shouldn’t trust anybody out here. We don’t deserve it.”

“You deserve it. You’re not cruel.”

He was avoiding my eyes. “I’m going to let you down.”

No, he wouldn’t. He was kind. At least, I very much wanted him to be.

* * *

I lingered, pacing on the quarterdeck for a while after the conversation had tapered out. Eventually I took a seat on the deck, legs criss-crossed, staring over the railing. The water was a mirror, the night sky was doubled. For a second I wondered if the ship was flying.

Haseong joined me, sat at my side. I shifted onto my back, looking up at the stars, and he did the same.

“You told me,” he murmured, “that you’ve been alive since sixteen ninety-nine. Is that true?”

“Kind of. My life didn’t really begin until I was turned. I was born first in sixteen seventy-six.”

“So you’re…” He squeezed his eyes shut, doing the math. “One hundred and forty-eight years old? That doesn’t feel right to me. You’re calm like an elder but you’re… artless.”

“I will take that as a compliment. Vampires age differently than humans. I’m over a hundred in years but it feels like my body, mind and soul are frozen in time.”

“Is that a good thing?”

“It is… a feeling like no other.” I didn’t know how to explain it and remain positive.

“How did you live before becoming a vampire? Or maybe you can’t answer that. I’ve been forgetting things, experiences from my human life — is that normal?”

“It’s normal. It’s just a matter of what you’re able to cling to. I remember I liked to read, take care of animals, fashion chains out of daisies. My father was a farmer, my mother was a housewife, I had little siblings too.”

“How were you turned?”

“My village was riddled with legends of vampires. My father made me join a raid on a suspected den and I couldn’t find it in myself to say no. I was reckless, eager to please; I strayed from the group and went off on my own. I suppose I found what I was looking for.”

“Why didn’t the vampire just kill you?”

“Surely he meant to. I suspect I accidentally set him on fire with my torch and he died before he could finish me off.”

“Did you ever go back to your family?”

“No. I feared my thirst would overpower me. We weren’t close anyway. My siblings worked and my father… was a bastard.”

“Did you just swear?”

“Yes, I apologize.”

“No, don’t. What about your mother?” He sounded curious, like I was reading from a storybook.

“My mother wasn’t very kind either, but I loved her. She died when I was fifteen.” She had become ill, lethargic, bedridden. I still didn’t understand what had happened. Someday I hoped to erase — or at the very least, ease — suffering like hers, instead of merely standing by and watching.

“I’m sorry, that must have been heartbreaking.”

“It was. What about you? You said you became a pirate at thirteen.”

“I was already gambling at the time. I liked turning gold coins between my fingers, making them dance. My first captain was a complete idiot. I learned how to properly manage a ship by watching him persistently fuck up.”

“Is that where you met your co-captains?”

“Yes and no. I met Iseul there — she and I came up with the idea to go out on our own. I was sick of working under an incompetent captain, she was sick of dressing up like a man just to protect herself. Shao was a childhood friend of hers — he acquired a ship for us and funds to pay the crew.”

“Where did it go wrong? When did the bad blood start?”

“It was never a flawless operation. We didn’t care for each other outside of business, we clashed constantly. I mean, they and I did. It always felt like _they_ were the unit while I was the outsider. It’s a flaming miracle we didn’t plot to kill each other sooner.”

“Was it very hard to break into the pirate scene?”

“There is no ‘breaking in.’ You act as if you’ve always been there, as if you’ve already made it to the top of the food chain. You kill and steal and wreak havoc until everyone knows your name. Ships are expendable, people are expendable, but the feeling of gold between your fingers, ice cold around your neck… it’s unbelievable.”

“Where is all your gold now?”

His lips broke into a little smile. “I have a weakness for baccarat.”

“Ah, why am I not surprised?”

“What else are we supposed to do with the money — invest?” He scoffed. “What about you, have you ever gambled?”

“I used to observe the games. I didn’t care for the frenzy and greed it elicited from humans.”

“High risk, high emotion. All the damn casinos are rigged these days anyway.” He laughed a bit, playfully. “Now _you_ are someone I’d like to play poker with. I’d make a killing.”

I tried not to smile. “So your life as a pirate was all gold and gambling. What about your childhood? Family, mother, father?”

“I had many mothers. I was raised in a brothel by the women who worked there.”

I blinked. “Indeed?”

“My biological mother had been employed there as well. She died in childbirth. I suppose my father didn’t care to make himself known.”

“Wasn’t the… goings-on in the establishment inappropriate for you as a child?”

“Why would it be?”

“It isn’t exactly the most virtuous career.”

“Virtuous,” he scoffed. “It’s honest work. The issues lay with an unsympathetic law enforcement, entitled — sometimes violent — male customers and the haughty councilmen who believe they hold dominion over women’s affairs.”

“I… did not think of it that way. Have I spoken out of turn?”

He shrugged. “We’re all products of our time.”

“Are you calling me a fogey?”

“If the cap fits…”

I smiled. “I’m sorry. I’m trying to keep up with the times, but everything changes so suddenly. Sometimes I forget the century has already turned.”

“I can see why you would feel that way, frozen as you are — or, at least, as you feel.”

I turned my head to look at him — he was looking back. “Do you ever feel like life is just… going too fast? Going without you?”

He shook his head. “Fuck that. I’ll chase it.”

I stared at him for a moment. And a moment longer. His eyes wandered over me.

His mouth opened to speak.

There was a deafening boom. Cannon fire. I shot to my feet and ran to the gunwale, scanning the horizon in a panic.

A mile away from us, a pair of ships were firing at one another, plumes of light and smoke in rhythm with the blasting. I recognized the humans onboard — oily and leonine Ahn Kwangsun was on the defence, and The Hound was heading the attack. He had climbed halfway up the mast, howling and beating his chest.

Kwangsun’s ship was sinking; the crew salvaged what they could and scrambled into a lifeboat. Just as they began to row away, Kwangsun jumped up and shouted someone’s name.

Not everybody had made it off the ship. A woman — the one wearing a veil, the one with a laugh like music — was trapped in the wreckage by the skirt of her dress. She was reaching out to Kwangsun, screaming his name as he was screaming hers.

I watched as the massive vessel was sucked underwater, taking the helpless human with it. I was about to do something impulsive, at least try to save her, but a cry came from behind me.

“Chan.” Haseong was backed against the taffrail, panting, hands over his ears. “Please m-make it stop.”

The Hound’s crew were still firing, some kind of a show of victory. They wouldn’t stop, even though the ship was lost, the water was barely stirring. She was gone.

I squeezed my eyes shut, whispering a prayer beneath my breath. _Bless her soul, bless her with eternal comfort._

I turned, crossed the deck, dropped to my knees and hugged him. His body was trembling. I held him until the cannons stopped firing and the night was quiet again, the sound of howling men faded into the fog.

“I’m n-not afraid,” he whispered.

“I know,” I replied.


	6. Chapter 6

The sun was rising, blue-grey behind the clouds, as Haseong and I moored the ship to a rocky bluff. We didn’t know what we would be looking for on land — the map only said to walk south until our destination became clear. He was muttering about stupid, vague maps as we hurtled through the forest, cutting away at the undergrowth with our swords.

An ancient stone building appeared in front of us, eaten by vines and moss, decrepit after years of neglect. Clear enough.

We froze as we heard movement ahead of us. Haseong’s former crew were already climbing the front steps.

Haseong jumped up and ran after them. I followed, hoping and praying this wouldn’t go off the rails.

Shao heard us coming and promptly gripped his partner’s elbow. “Haseong, don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

“I haven’t the faintest what you’re talking about.” Haseong cut ahead of them, past their crew and kicked the doors in. “I’m just here to claim what’s mine.”

My jaw dropped open. It was a library, one of the biggest I’d ever seen. (Though not as big as The Library of Congress and not as burnt either.) Endless aisles of dusty books and books stacked on the floor and books left open. I automatically picked one up and started reorganizing.

“Fuck,” Iseul muttered. “This could take forever.”

“Why don’t you two wait outside?” Haseong said. “We will locate the key and then call you in and tell you where it was, alright?”

Iseul turned calmly to Shao. “May I _please_ run him through?”

“No, you may not.”

“Why? Perhaps a final match is in order.”

I could tell Haseong wouldn’t be opposed to the idea; I cut in. “We’re all adults here, we needn’t fight.”

Iseul looked me up and down. “And you are?”

“My name is Bang Chan.”

“Why are you here? What has Haseong promised you? Wealth, power, love?”

“He has promised me nothing. He’s my friend.”

Shao snorted. Iseul smirked and looked at Haseong. “This one is cute. Try not to break him, will you?”

Haseong looked slightly embarrassed. “He can take care of himself.”

“He isn’t even holding his sword correctly.”

I readjusted it in my hands.

“Have I missed anything?” Eogeum Myung strode in through the doors, his crew on his heels. “Ah, a library. Quaint.”

The Hound trailed after them, eyes scanning the room. “Who has the key?”

“No one yet, dog,” Iseul snapped. “We’re not even sure what we’re looking for.”

The captains and crew fanned out, moved deeper into the building. I ran my fingers along the books, mind straying from the mission at hand. I loved libraries, especially when they were empty, nothing but grandfather clocks ticking, pages brushing together and lovely acoustics (in case a little warbling was in order).

A shout. “There’s someone here!”

I headed toward the sound. At the end of the room, under a towering stained glass window, a person sat behind a desk, faced away from us, unmoving.

Myung rounded the desk and walked up to the stranger. He was in the middle of a greeting when he realized the man in the chair was dead, blood all over his shirt, puddled on the floor. I held Haseong’s wrist, but he seemed to be in control, teeth gritted together.

“His throat has been slit,” Shao said, examining the body.

The Hound growled. “He was likely here to aid us. Who would kill him?”

“Someone who didn’t _need_ his aid anymore,” Myung said.

“Does that mean the key is gone?”

“We should search the place regardless.” Iseul started checking the dead man’s pockets. The others combed through the aisles again, shaking books onto the floor.

I walked up to his desk, looking over the open books. There were texts on animals, religion, everything from fiction to old newspapers. I leaned down and sniffed them, trying to be discreet. Only one book was unlike the rest, traced with a faint scent I couldn’t place.

I picked it up and flipped through it. I’d read it a few years ago, a trade with a kindly lector I’d met in Constantinople — a pair of shoes for a book that would touch my heart. A page in the back half caught my thumb. Not only was the page misaligned — the font was different, the subject was foreign. It was from another book.

_“Show yourself, fiend! I know you’re here!”_

Everyone turned toward the voice. Ahn Kwangsun was charging toward us, brandishing a curved, minacious-looking blade. The second he laid eyes upon The Hound, his expression went alight with fire and hatred.

“You bastard, you killed her!” He charged and raised his weapon — the steel screeched as it met The Hound’s sword. Their crews were exchanging blows as well; I ducked out of the way, book clutched to my chest, as a man slammed his opponent down onto the desk, smashing it to the floor.

“Could you please take this outside?” Myung shouted, annoyed.

“You condemned her to death!” Kwangsun shouted. “And for naught! There was no bad blood!”

“If I didn’t sink your blasted ship then you would have sunk mine! Don’t act like you weren’t planning on it!”

“I was planning no such attack, how dare you bastardize my name!”

I was about to slip out of the crowd, but Haseong spoke. “Hey, where are you going?”

“Um. To look for the key.”

“You can browse the books if you’d like, Chan. This place is incredible.”

I smiled. “I… will do that instead then.”

I continued down the aisle, holding the book out in front of me. The misplaced page was a description of a farmer’s life and duties. I wasn’t familiar with the library’s layout, so I had to do some circling before I found the agricultural section.

I scanned the books, looking for one that matched the first book’s size and font. _Rearing Livestock, comma, and Other Responsibilities._ I skimmed the rest of the pages; there was a rogue in this one too, an excerpt on the Plague in the middle of a chapter about the perils of moulting.

I snapped the book closed and started running — I remembered seeing a medical section toward the back. The shelves stretched up to the ceiling, and of course the books at the very top looked like my best chance. No ladder in sight. I was too impatient to search — I climbed the shelves to the top and retrieved the book.

Another redirect, this time across the library. I sighed and dropped to the floor. I snuck by the pirates — some were filtering through the books, others simply observing the ongoing duel. Thankfully Haseong was staying out of it, instead cutting through book spines one by one and peeking into the hollows.

I took a Mesopotamian history book off the shelf. None of the pages were swapped. I checked its neighbours, pawed around behind the row — nothing.

Except for a slight change in the dust pattern, a hand print on the side of the shelf. I looked through the crack — there was an open space where the wall should have been.

I gripped the wooden panel and pulled. It rumbled deeply as it swung out into the aisle. I checked over my shoulder and slipped inside, closing it behind me.

It was a small room of books, mildewed and messy. Against the back wall was a podium, sitting on top of it a single copper key.

I slapped my hands over my mouth — I might have squealed. I crossed the room and picked it up. It was about the size of my thumb, corroded green on the outside, carved into a pattern that presumably interlocked with the other keys.

I think I understood what Haseong meant when he told me about treasure. This thing in my hands, I didn’t want to give it up. No one would take it from me.

I wasn’t sure where to put it. I had nary a pocket and feared hiding it inside a book would rouse suspicion. I dropped to the carpet, took off my shoe and tucked it in at the toe. Oh gracious. I couldn’t wait to tell Haseong. I couldn’t wait to see him happy.

I ran to the secret door and opened it — Iseul was there in front of me. I flinched, spun in a circle and then greeted her with a bow.

“What have you stumbled upon, Mr. Bang?” Her eyes were an inscrutable and mistrustful black.

“I was just browsing — searching for, you know, keys and what have you — and then I found a shelf that was actually a door and I opened it. Spectacular, wouldn’t you say?”

She pushed the door open and walked in, scanning the room. I grabbed a book off the floor, too fast for her to see, and set it on the empty podium. Her eyes travelled over it without pause.

“Do you suspect the key is hidden in here somewhere?” she asked.

“It would be a fitting place to hide it, but I’ve searched high and low and found nothing.” Did I sound suspicious? Was my voice too high, too low, too wobbly? “I’m afraid Captain Pi meant this to be a puzzle of some kind. I haven’t a clue where to start.”

She looked me up and down. It felt like she was trying to make sense of me. “Who are you, Bang Chan? You don’t belong here.”

I opened my mouth and closed it. “I belong here as much as anyone else.”

“You’re not a pirate. Whatever Haseong has told you about this journey — or himself for that matter — be skeptical. I’ve known him for a decade, all he cares about is himself and his winnings.”

“I know of his sins, but he’s far from heartless.”

“Then you know a different person than I.”

I was torn between putting up an argument and disengaging. I felt like defending his name, but I knew he would tell me not to waste my breath.

“Good luck finding the key.” I left the room.

I went to help Haseong scour the shelves in the history section. Pirates were storming up and down the aisles — a good portion of the library had been torn apart looking for the key. The key that was crammed into my shoe, that I had found on my own. ‘You don’t belong here,’ my eye.

The search dragged on for a time longer. Nobody wanted to give up first, everyone was suspicious of everyone else. What if someone had it, what if someone was pretending to have it? And worse yet, what if nobody could find it? What would happen to the treasure then?

Myung ceded first, led his crew out the door with his chest puffed out and nose pointed skyward. Kwangsun and The Hound followed, beaten and bloody but both alive. Iseul and Shao stayed the longest, trying to decipher codes in the page numbers and author’s notes. They wouldn’t find anything. Before we’d left, I’d hidden the crucial book on a shelf that no human could reach.

“Pi should have known better,” Haseong said on the way to the ship. “Pirates are too fat-headed to do puzzles, myself included.”

“It might have helped if the aid hadn’t been killed.”

“Even if we had found him alive, he would have met a similar fate. Threatening his life seems a more efficient way to get the key. I suppose someone already had that thought.”

“Do you… do you think someone stole the key beforehand?”

“It’s possible. Maybe it was Kwangsun — he was late, though that could be because of his lack of _ship_ right now. If he hasn’t taken it, I just hope that Iseul and Shao find it. The six keys have to be together or nobody will get the treasure.”

We loitered on the beach, waiting for our enemies to shove off, before we climbed into the lifeboat and rowed back to the ship. I weighed the anchor, scanning my surroundings, suspicious of every little noise I heard. Haseong was at the wheel, rubbing his eyes between his fingers.

“The Hound has the first key,” he murmured, “and Myung has the second. Someone must have found the third at the bottom of the waterfall, and either Kwangsun has the fourth or no one does…”

I checked over my shoulder one last time. “Or we have the fourth.”

He barely looked up. “What do you mean?”

I took the key out of my shoe, held it carefully in my hands.

His face was blank for a second more — and then it hit him. He laughed a half-crazed laugh and ran down from the quarterdeck. I thought he was running to grab the key, but instead he hugged me, once tightly, and pulled back to meet my eyes.

He kissed me. Roughly, eagerly — the kisses I’d only read about. My arms wrapped around his neck, held him close as his hands gripped my waist. He stepped back, pulling me with him — then I heard a door open. The door to the great cabin, the captain’s bedroom. _Heavens._

“Am I interrupting something?”

I jumped back, Haseong drew his bayonet fast. Lazing on the bed was a woman with long black hair, a sodden dress hanging off her brawny frame. Ahn Kwangsun’s accomplice — the one who had drowned just a day ago.

Her eyes were a wicked, fiery red.

“My name is Ngai Fei.”


	7. Chapter 7

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

The strange woman smiled, shifted to sit at the foot of the bed. The point of Haseong’s blade nearly touched her forehead. There was a grizzly scar that cut down her face, across her bent nose, and bits of seaweed stuck to her skin, tangled into her scraggly waist-length hair.

“It’s always ‘what are you doing here?’ and ‘who are you?’” She spoke with a faint Mandarin accent, tone smooth but cold. “Perhaps a better question would be ‘what do you have to offer?’”

Haseong and I glanced at each other. A potential rival was in front of us and our only key was still clutched in my hand.

She rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to steal your key. As a matter of fact…”

She reached into her corset — we looked away. When we looked back she had a key between her fingers.

“How did you…?” Haseong murmured.

“The key from the waterfall,” I said. “You got it for Kwangsun.”

“Now it’s mine. And it could be yours.”

“What’s the catch?”

“Think of it less as a catch and more as an opportunity.”

“You’re not in the position to be proffering a deal right now.” Haseong still had his bayonet pointed at her head.

She stood up. She had a foot on us both.

“Go on. Run me through. See how well it turns out for you.”

I pushed Haseong’s weapon down for him.

“Very good. Now listen.” She paced while she spoke, back straight, fingers tapping against her hips. “I’ve been in the piracy game for some time now, posturing as an accessory for Ahn Kwangsun. I enjoy observing humans, their meagre thoughts and aspirations are infinitely entertaining.

“I hadn’t expected to find individuals of my kind, but there you were, shattering a steel sword to pieces. Captain Bak Haseong, kingpin of the High Roller, risen from the dead. You gave me an opportunity to swipe the key from the wire. And you — Bang Chan, wasn’t it? I haven’t heard your name, but you must be learned if you managed to find the fourth key.”

“You’ve been watching us?” I said.

“Just for a little while. When I saw Captain Bak had been turned, I couldn’t help being intrigued. A two-man vampire crew would be stronger than a full crew of humans — and imagine how much stronger you’d be with me on your side, with the right convictions and objectives.”

 _“You_ on our side?” I said unthinkingly.

“What do you mean, ‘convictions and objectives’?” Haseong asked.

“I’m saying a pirate company operated by vampires would be the most powerful and formidable force on the planet.”

“So you’re out for world domination?”

“Don’t be stupid, I seek riches and leverage. But if humanity just so happens to fall at our feet…”

I put my hand on Haseong’s back, discreetly telling him that I didn’t trust her. Fei’s eyes missed nothing.

“There is no need for stealth — I’m only looking for an alliance.”

“We don’t know you,” I said. “We didn’t even know you were on our ship.”

“My apologies if my behaviour was untoward. I didn’t plan on making myself known for a while more, and I presumed these quarters would be of no _use_ to you.”

Haseong clicked his jaw. I straightened my shirt.

“This alliance you’re proposing,” he said. “What’s in it for us?”

“Everything that benefits me will benefit you as well, but, namely, an additional key, and a leg up on your opponents. I haven’t seen you exercise your gifts in their presence — I could sway things in your favour from behind the scenes.”

“You would betray Captain Ahn?”

“Our partnership was… one-sided. I do not hold Kwangsun dear to my heart, though I suppose his determination to avenge my death is somewhat flattering, even if I was the one to incite it in the first place.”

“How did you _incite_ it?”

“Via anonymous note, I told The Hound that Kwangsun was planning to sink his ship and steal his key. It takes a token amount of effort to manipulate a man — their minds are simplistic.”

“You say this to the men with whom you wish to be in arms,” I said.

She rolled her eyes again. “Do not expect me to hold my tongue just because I’m in the company of a more temperamental sex. I come with a, frankly, elementary proposition and end up interrogated with a sword to my head. Captain, I presumed you would have decided by now.”

Haseong’s eyes narrowed. He was considering it. I was hesitant. She was clearly duplicitous — and mean — and we knew nothing of her history. Was there really a need for anyone outside the two of us? I liked the company as it was, where I didn’t have to micromanage anybody but Haseong.

“How do we know we can trust you?” he asked.

Fei walked up to us — we both shrunk back a little — and held out the key. Haseong reluctantly took it.

“Do you know how incredibly easy it would be to get the keys myself? I’ve stolen treasure from a hundred pirates better than any of you — just for the hell of it, just for a lark.” She smiled a smile of crocodile teeth. “There is power in numbers. Beyond Pi’s insignificant fortune, there is more to claim as our own.”

I looked at Haseong. He was looking at her.

He held his hand out. “It’s settled. But you cheat me, you betray me, you get out of line — you will pay for it, understand?”

She grabbed his hand and shook it, once, hard. “Same goes for you, Captain.” She shooed us aside and strode out of the cabin, speaking over her shoulder. “Don’t let me adjourn your _excursion_ — I’ll prepare the ship in the meantime.”

She kept walking. We looked at each other, awkward.

“That’s obviously not happening,” he said.

“No,” I concurred.

He smiled a bit. “I should keep an eye on her.”

I nodded. He hurried after Fei — she was already fiddling with the sails — and I watched, leaning against the doorframe. I hadn’t planned to kiss Haseong, nor had I been entirely resigned to the fact that I _wanted_ to. In addition, I hadn’t expected an intimidating, vaguely Amazonian vampire to show up and insert herself into our quest.

Haseong wasn’t the only one who could keep his finger on the pulse. I had my eye on her.


	8. Chapter 8

Though the ship had not _technically_ belonged to us, now it wasn’t ours in a literal sense. From the moment she arrived, Fei owned the quarterdeck, only her hands would steer the wheel or raise the sails. We eventually accepted her government and left her to preside over the helm.

Haseong stood like a statue at the bow, staring through the fog. I paced the deck, at once fighting the urge to probe Fei — maybe standing on the taffrail so I’d have the high ground — and tempted to sidle up to Haseong, see if he might put his arm around me if I stood close enough.

I stopped pacing, about to attempt one or the other, but they spoke in unison.

“We’re approaching land.”

They eyed each other from opposite ends of the ship.

I stood next to Haseong, looking ahead. Past the fog were ships rocking in the rough current coming from the river’s mouth. One of them looked sunken, half its massive body jutting out of the water.

“Is that one of the pirates’ ships?” I asked.

“It was one of Pi’s fleet,” Fei answered. “It capsized in seventeen twenty-one and got caught in the bedrock.”

“How do you know that?”

“It’s one of his most famous crusades,” Haseong said. “My mothers used to tell me about his adventures as bedtime stories.”

“Most of the others are there already,” Fei muttered. “We could have beaten them if you hadn’t haggled so persistently.”

“If you hadn’t invaded our ship like a madwoman,” Haseong retorted. “Chan, your silk whatchamacallits?”

“Oh, yes, good idea.” I took the swatch out of my pocket and nibbled out iris-sized circles.

I flinched as I realized Fei was leering over my shoulder.

“May I help you?” I said.

“What are you doing with that?”

“I’m making coverings for our eyes. Why, would you like to try it?”

“What is the purpose?”

“It dampens the colour in case a human is in close proximity.”

She blew a breath out her nose and stormed away. “The subjugation — the pressure to suppress our nature — is truly ceaseless, isn’t it?”

I blinked. “It’s crucial, actually. It’s in the interest of the law.”

“Well, of course _you_ would think so.”

“Is that an insult, Miss Ngai?”

“It’s Mrs. Ngai. And no, it isn’t. Your eyes tell me a lot about you.”

I should have known she was some kind of a vampire nationalist. The disparity between us was a pistol blasting our peace dove out of the air. Gold and red didn’t mix.

“But by all means,” she said, raising her hands, “don’t let me stop you from practicing submission to the despots in Volterra.”

“How is it a submission?” Haseong asked.

Fei opened her mouth eagerly, like this was the question she had been waiting for. I sensed the rhetoric coming and interrupted.

“Instead of a submission, see it as ensuring the confidentiality of the vampire world — as well as our own continued existences — and not ‘playing into The Volturi’s draconian reign,’ as some might say.”

Her eyes narrowed and her smile widened. “The rose has thorns. Noted.” She turned and stepped onto the railing, tying her hair into a square knot at the back of her head. “We’ve dawdled too long. I will assist at the wreck. You won’t see me, but I’ll be there. Farewell for now.”

She dove into the water with barely a splash.

“Everything she says is either a condescension or a threat,” I murmured.

“I know,” Haseong replied. “I like it.”

We applied the silk to each other’s eyes and then headed to the lifeboat. I was all too aware that we hadn’t been alone since we’d kissed. I had found myself romantically entangled in the past, but I hadn’t been caught up in the minutia of sneaky looks and awkward jitters until now. I just wanted to know what he was thinking.

“It was fun,” he said then, thankfully. “While it lasted anyway. I’m sorry I lost my composure back there.”

“It’s all right.” It was more than all right. “I’m… sorry we were interrupted.”

We smiled and avoided each other’s eyes.

The boat ran up on the shore. I could hear the pirates shouting expletives and commands over the gush of water. Shao was closest to us, dumping out the contents of a lone drawer. Kwangsun was doing the same down the bank — his eye was purple, lip split, from his fight with The Hound. Eogeum Myung was next, a mistrustful 10-yard buffer between them.

One of Iseul and Shao’s crewmen suddenly broke the surface of the water, climbed ashore and gave Shao another waterlogged container, something that looked like a jewelry box.

I understood what we were to do. The key was hidden somewhere inside Pi’s sunken ship — and we had to retrieve it. Iseul and The Hound were joining in the search alongside their crews, disappearing underwater as long as their lungs could last.

Haseong and I looked at each other.

“Which one of us will it be?” I said.

“The one who is… not me?”

“Haseong, I’m not prepared to swim — a tunic is hardly fitting attire.”

“Last time I was underwater, I was drowning. Please?”

I sighed. At least he was admitting his weaknesses. “Fine.”

I stepped up to the edge of the river and pinched my nose shut as I dived in. The current was rough, blurring my vision, but the hull of the massive ship was impossible to miss. Old oak wedged into the bedrock, a singing figurehead on the bow trapped underwater for an eternity.

I swam up to an open port and squeezed through. The inside was likened to ours except bigger, shambolic, less caught up in royal appearances. I couldn’t stay down for too long — it might be suspicious, assuming our rivals were paying attention. I grabbed a cigar box and a couple ruined books and headed back out the port.

I broke the surface of water, dumped the stuff on the bank. Haseong quickly searched through it — of course there was no key to be found.

“I’ll go deeper,” I said, pretending to pant, “I can find it.”

“Don’t push yourself too far, alright?” He leaned down to speak in my ear. “The stern is above water — nobody has been able to make it there yet.”

I nodded and went under again. I had to take a detour to avoid a crewman, around and in through a gash in the hull. Going deeper into the ship, I noticed how much of it was empty, looted already. All I could hope was that the key was at the stern. I wanted to claim it as our own, I wanted to hold it in my hands and know I had earned it.

I swam up a flight of stairs and reached for a door floating halfway open. It was suddenly thrust toward me from the other side — I shrank back against the wall, hid as someone paddled past me, hauling a trunk through the water. He gave up and swam out a port on the far side of the room.

I grabbed the trunk and pried the lid open — linens, blankets and pillow cases. There was a scent hiding in the fibres, leaching into the water. I concentrated on it, tried to make it out…

Fei. I checked over each shoulder — she may have been behind me this whole time. I shouldn’t have been expecting any different, I suppose.

I turned and kept going. Down the hallway was a door like the one on our ship — the great cabin. I pushed forward and forced it open. The spacious room was only half-submerged, the back half dusty and untouched.

Another scent filled the air. Human blood.

I held my sleeve over my mouth, controlled my breathing as I walked across the room, dripping a trail of water behind me. The body was laying in a shallow pool of blood behind the heavy wooden desk.

It took me a moment to realize who it was. The Hound.

My reaction surprised me. Instead of feeling empathy for a life lost, for those who may have held him dear — I wanted to check his pockets for the key that, according to Myung, he had claimed at the initial stop. I just hoped that his murderer hadn’t taken it first.

I was about to get closer, but all at once my body went into lockdown. The walls and ceiling were going up in flames, the doorway was already engulfed. I pivoted to the window but a crew of men were standing idly within my view. If I broke the glass, surely they’d see me.

I ran back to the middle of the room, dropped to my knees and punched through the floorboards. Water swelled through the breach as I stripped away the ancient wood, threw it over my shoulder. The fire was reaching toward me, getting closer on all sides; I could feel the heat, see the bright red from the corner of my eyes, as I dove into the water.

I swam down into the bilge, out through a break in the side and toward the surface. I shook the hair out of my face and looked up at the ship. The fire had claimed the exposed deck and crows nest, climbing up the sails and eating away at the masts. I suppose the search was over.

“Enough holding back, demon! I know what you can do!”

I paddled in a circle. Haseong and Iseul were on the bank, swinging their swords, shouting curse words I’d never heard before. Oh for the love of Mary.

I swam to land, pulled myself out of the water, grabbed the collar of his coat and dragged him away. I was soaked from head to toe and not in the mood for diplomacy.

“What’s gotten into you?” I said once we were alone in the forest.

He shrugged out of my grip. “She was being the boor she is.”

“You _cannot_ lose your temper like that. She obviously remembers what happened at the waterfall.”

“Ah the waterfall.” Fei was suddenly waltzing along between us, wringing out her hair. “What a brilliant fuckup that was.”

“And where have _you_ been?” Haseong said.

“Lurking, watching, keeping an eye on things.”

“Do you know what happened to the ship? Why it caught fire?”

“Oh that?” she said innocently. “Kwangsun found the key and set the ship aflame, hoping to kill whomever might have been inside it. His appetite for victory is understandable, seeings as the only key he had ‘vanished without a trace.’”

Haseong swore under his breath. “I’d hoped Myung would find it — or at least The Hound. I have no problem killing every last one of them, but surely it would be easier if the keys weren’t separated.”

“The Hound is dead,” I said. “I found him in the great cabin before the fire broke out.”

“Christ, really? Did you check him for his key?”

“I didn’t get the chance.”

“You wouldn’t have found anything,” Fei said.

“Why do you say that?”

She slapped something against my chest — I scrambled to catch it. A key.

I just stared down at it. Haseong practically started singing. Fei was calm, slightly smug, like the key had been in her possession this whole time.

“Y-you killed him?” I said.

“Eventually. For a man tagged ‘The Hound,’ I’d thought his bite would measure up to his bark.”

“Fuck yes, thank God!” Haseong gave her a punch on the arm, reined himself in and held his hand out for a proper handshake. She ignored it.

“We now have three keys — Captain Eogeum and Kwangsun lay claim to the additional two. We’ll shoot Eogeum’s ship out of the water and deal with Kwangsun at the final stop.” She strode past the lifeboat and into the water without another word.

I was still looking down at the key in my hands. The colour and weight were familiar, the grooves and dents fit. But for some reason, the victory didn’t feel the same.

“Hey, what’s that look?” Haseong asked.

“Um. Nothing.”

He slapped my arm and ran toward the rowboat. “C’mon, we finally have a head start.”

I followed. I suppose as long as he was happy, so was I. Even if I wasn’t the one to make him happy.

It’s fine.


	9. Chapter 9

Haseong had told me that treasure would foster greed in me. The thrill of the pursuit, the pride in possession. I understood now, in a way. I wanted the keys and I wanted what they unlocked. But more, I wanted it for him. I wanted to make him happy.

It wasn’t the only thing gnawing at me. I hadn’t fed in over a week; the flames in my throat were only getting worse. (It didn’t help that Fei had dried blood on her dress and refused to change into a spare sailor uniform like I had.) I was standing at the very edge of the ship, breathing deep breaths, hoping the ocean air would ease the fire.

“Are you feeling okay?” Haseong came up next to me.

“Er, yes, fine. The air is… refreshing.”

“Are you sure you’re not thirsty?”

“You could tell?”

“I took a guess. Your eyes are black.”

“It’s… bearable. I don’t want to stop just to hunt.”

“I respect self-sacrificial resolve, Mr. Bang,” Fei called from the helm. Of course she was listening.

“We should stop,” Haseong said. “We can’t afford to be weak and distracted at the last destination.”

“I advise against it,” Fei said. “We’re making good time, why lose momentum for no reason?”

“I turned only a few weeks ago — I’m thirsty as well. We’ll anchor, hunt and be back within the hour.”

My mind was restless but my body was relieved. We dropped anchor, rowed to shore and ran into the forest.

“I suppose this is as far as you’ll need to go,” Fei muttered. “What are vampires like _you_ called? Civvies, isn’t it?”

“You’re welcome to try it for yourself,” I said, very much hoping the answer would be no.

She laughed flatly. “Humour. No, I am not in the habit of depriving my body of the sustenance it needs to perform efficiently.”

“Meet you on the shore then.” I hunkered to the ground and searched desperately for any trace of warm-blooded animal.

“Humans,” Haseong murmured. “I’ve only smelled their blood from afar.”

Both Fei and I heard the curiosity in his voice. “You’ve haven’t fed on one?” she asked. “Not even once?”

“No. I woke and followed Chan’s lead.”

“Hm. How sad. Join me in town, Captain. You should experience your options before you blindly commit.”

Haseong looked down at me. “Would you mind?”

“You’re asking him for permission?” Fei said skeptically. “What are you, his pet?”

“Just go.” I was too thirsty to haggle or adjudicate, my mind was barely functioning. “Meet on the shore.”

They nodded in unison and darted northward, gone in a second. The rest of my hunt was a blur — a scent hidden in the grass, the forest floor flying beneath my feet, skin tearing between my teeth.

Then the fog had lifted, my mind was clear. And Haseong and Fei were off on a murder spree. I wouldn’t have stopped him from going, but I would have preferred to be there. Fei obviously had convictions that skewed to an extreme, the polar opposite of mine, and I had to admit that Haseong seemed better suited to her side of the aisle.

Immediately I wanted to know what they were doing, what they were talking about. The expedition, plans for future, something else entirely? Maybe she had magically conjured another dozen keys from her girdle already.

I straightened out of a crouch, turned toward the sea. And turned again, ran north instead. What was the harm in joining them halfway through?

I followed the trail they left into town. Thankfully it was nighttime — the sun wouldn’t be a problem, and the streets were empty. I listened to the beating hearts inside the houses, some slow, some fast, some eager and thumping, a child awake past their bedtime. I couldn’t understand how vampires could hear such a pure sound and be compelled to destroy it.

“You’re saying the Volturi are corrupt?”

I recognized his voice instantly. Ahead of me, Haseong and Fei were strolling down the dirt road at a human speed, toward a stout brick building. A sign above the door read ‘Saint Mary’s School for Girls.’

I could have called out or run to catch up. Instead I vanished into the forest, followed where they couldn’t see or hear me. I felt dirty for eavesdropping, but I was uninterested in facades and pretences; I had a hunch my presence would influence the conversation.

“Name a monopoly that isn’t corrupt,” Fei said with a roll of her eyes. “They have been in power longer than I’ve been alive, longer than most vampires I’ve met. With age comes entitlement, with entitlement comes abuse.”

“If they are so crooked, why haven’t vampires mutinied yet? I’ve been through my share of mutinies, it isn’t as difficult as one would think.”

“Perhaps not for humans. Despite numerous attempts by some of the most powerful vampires on earth, there has never been a successful coup. All who dare to rise, fall by the Volturi’s hand.” Her smile was of evil and pleasure. “Someday the tides will turn. The right individual has just not come along yet.”

Haseong said what we were both thinking. “You sound as if that individual is you.”

“For the sake of the vampire race, I mustn’t say.”

“You are certainly capable. Dare I say I’ve never met anyone with such a formidable… presence, as you.”

“Do not flatter me, Captain.”

“I know better than to try, Miss Ngai.”

She was suddenly annoyed. “It’s _Mrs._ Ngai. Must I repeat myself again and again?”

“My apologies. I suppose I didn’t think you a woman that would submit to marriage.”

“Marriage is only a submission as far as the husband is intent on domination.” She abruptly changed the subject. “The trick is to stop the human from flailing and hold their mouth closed at the same time. It should be fast and silent. Don’t make me hold your hand through this.”

“If it’s anything like drinking sheep, then I won’t have a problem.”

They were approaching the building. Heartbeats were everywhere inside, five or six for each dark window. I wasn’t sure if I could make myself stay for this.

“Behind the building,” Fei murmured. They leapt over a high paling fence, disappeared.

There was a beat of silence, then a cut-off shriek and bodies hitting the ground.

I jumped into a tree, pulled myself up branch by branch and looked down into the garden behind the school. Haseong was hunkered over a human, teeth boring into the flesh of their neck. It was difficult to see. At least the body seemed to be that of a groundskeeper instead of a student.

Fei was done feeding within seconds. She promptly unbuttoned the corpse’s jacket and trousers and put them on, leaving her rumpled dress on the ground.

Haseong fell back on his haunches, looked down at the body under him. He wiped the blood off his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Don’t get weepy on me.” Fei reached down to help him up.

He accepted her hand. “Don’t worry, I’m not sentimental. I have killed many people in my life. Wasn’t in the habit of eating them though.” He laughed a bit. “I didn’t realize humans were so… magnetic. It wasn’t the same with animals.”

“Of course it wasn’t,” Fei scoffed. “I will never understand why the concept of the _food chain_ is so difficult for these ascetics to grasp. Would you expect a lion not to hunt a gazelle? A human not to rear livestock? Vampires are no different.”

“I suppose ethics, religion, pacifism, get in the way.”

“I would say ignoring the natural order is more of an affront to mother nature, God, ethics, whatever you’re citing — than ignoring it and doing whatever _allays_ your conscience.”

“Why do I have the urge to lock you in a room with Chan, sit back and watch the bedlam unfold?”

I shifted uncomfortably at the mention of my name.

“It’s clear where Mr. Bang stands. I’m sure he is quite displeased with both of us.”

Haseong rolled his eyes. “I’m sure.”

“Will you go back to animals after this?”

“Why should I? I’m not beholden to him, nor he to me. Everyone can live their lives the way they choose.”

Fei narrowed her eyes. “Why do you keep him around?”

Haseong smiled, shrugged lightly. “He’s difficult to get rid of.”

A twinge in my gut. That wasn’t really how he felt about me… was it?

Fei was smirking, entertained. “We should be on our way.”

“It’s been a pleasant intermission, Mrs. Ngai. Thank you for broadening my horizons. May I?”

He was reaching for her hand; she gave it to him. He bowed to her, holding her hand to his lips, as if he might kiss it.

And then Fei looked up, met my eye and winked.


	10. Chapter 10

Alone on the shore, I watched the waves fizzle at my feet. A return to the start. I hadn’t taken a breath, sat with my thoughts — woven a basket — for what felt like years. Everything simple in my life had become complicated, my feelings and the setting and the people around me.

 _Especially_ the people around me — the ones drawing nearer from the forest. They were discussing the pirate code, dubbing it less of a “mandate” than a collection of “loose guidelines.” I got to my feet and tried to summon my inner rooster — pushed my shoulders back, puffed out my chest — though I felt like more of a nestling.

Fei walked briskly down the beach, past me and shoved the rowboat into the water. “Shall we, gentlemen?”

“I want to talk to Haseong in private,” I said plainly, not looking at him.

She smiled at me, impish. “As you wish. Don’t take too long. Catch up at the crags ahead.” She climbed into the boat and rowed out into the water.

Haseong stood next to me, leaned into my shoulder. “You didn’t miss me, did you, Mr. Bang?”

“We should talk.”

He sighed, nodded. “I suppose we should. Chan, I… I killed someone tonight. I’m sorry.” He glanced over my shoulder, at the ship in the distance. “I’m only realizing now, she’s a more powerful ally than I initially thought, more dangerous an enemy. I want to establish a rapport, trust. She’s useful to us as long as she thinks we’re loyal to her.”

It took me a moment to answer. How much of it had been a strategy? “Haseong, I’m not _overjoyed_ with the decision you made tonight, but it’s more than that.”

“What is it?”

“In the garden behind the school — I was listening.”

His face fell. “Okay, look, hear me out. All the shit I said back there, it was part of the plan. I was distancing myself from you, aligning myself with her. If you don’t have my loyalty, then I seem like more of a neutral agent. Whatever you heard, it was a lie — don’t believe anything that comes out of my mouth.”

“That’s the problem. Haseong, I… care for you, I want to trust you, but if everything you say is a lie — everything you do is a strategy — then how can I trust you at all?” I took his hand, lifted it to my lips and dropped it. “You remember this maneuver? You tried this on me and I followed you, now you do it to her — what am I supposed to feel?”

“I was only trying to disarm her.” He took a deep breath and let it out. “Like I had with you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Chan, you’re right. I wasn’t being sincere. The circling, the flirting, the charm — I was just trying to get you to come along. I wanted a guide to the life of a vampire, I wanted some semblance of a crew. I didn’t even choose you for a reason — you were just there.”

I was looking down at the sand, avoiding his scarlet red eyes. “So… everything, it was all a lie?”

“At first. Then it became more — I know you now, you know me too, right? You can trust me.”

“How can I? Really, how?”

“Because… you can?”

“That isn’t enough. Your word is not enough.”

He was avoiding my eyes as well, one hand squeezing the hilt of his bayonet.

“All right,” he murmured. “Thank you.”

I looked up. “What?”

“Being with you, knowing you, I didn’t expect to… _like it_ as much as I did. Your trust was…. special to me. But I understand that I don’t deserve it. I’m truly sorry, Chan.”

He bowed to me and turned, disappeared like a flash of light down the beach.

* * *

Being a solitary creature, loneliness was always one misplaced footstep away. All my life I’d tried very hard to keep myself company; I had so much to be grateful for, the sky above my head the ground below my feet. What right did I have to take it for granted?

Sometimes I wondered if I was truly _meant_ to be alone. Maybe Haseong had come into my life just to remind me; I was a person that passed, not one who stayed, not one to be known. At least I had learned something because of it. Hopefully I’d put the knowledge to use next time I saved a pirate king from the brink of death and grew to care for him much, much more than I should have.

I didn’t know how long I’d been ruminating, standing at the bow and staring into the fog, but for a while now, Fei had been hovering over my shoulder, silent except for the occasional blink. I wanted to go somewhere she was, well, _not,_ but Haseong was at the stern, and it seemed rude to disappear belowdecks and hide.

“I know you’re there,” I said.

“I wanted to see how long it would take you to acknowledge me.”

“I’d like to be alone, please.”

“You’re feeling plenty alone already, aren’t you?”

Was she some kind of a mind-reader? “Why would you say that?”

“You and I are alike in… _some_ ways, at least.” She stepped up next to me, leaned forward with her hands on the railing. “Our politics might be at odds, but our lifestyles overlap. We are travellers, solitary beings, long in the fang, if I may jest.”

“Er, okay. Do you ever… feel lonely?”

“Once. I didn’t like it so I stopped. My ambition keeps me company.”

“I prefer nature.”

“Does the sea not measure up to the land?”

I glanced over my shoulder. Haseong was manning the wheel, expression flat and unreadable, the face he used when he wanted to seem tough.

I looked back down at the water. “It must be the fog.”

She laughed under her breath. “You are so very fond of him. How twee.”

I palmed my forehead. My feelings were obvious, even to a cold-hearted she-demon. “Please be quiet, he might be listening.”

“Trust me, he isn’t. He’s trying to dissociate right now.”

“How do you know that? Let me guess, you’re just swapping back and forth between us to dissect our emotions for your own personal amusement.”

“That is not my goal, though it _is_ amusing. You should have seen your face when I gave you that little wink back on the hunt. I might as well have shot you.”

“Had you known I was there the whole time?”

“I was aware of your presence from the beginning. I expected you to spy — you trust neither of us to behave. Just imagine the kind of tumult we might cause without your supervision!”

I could tell by her wobbly voice and waggling hands that she was making fun of me. “Note that I turned out to be valid in my suspicions.”

“Your Captain Bak had a strategy of his own, didn’t he? Trying to secure my loyalty. And before you ask, yes, I anticipated his ulterior motives. He wouldn’t have broken his abstention without cause — certainly not, he is much too fond of you in return.”

I turned to face her. “Mrs. Ngai, I am not sure what you’re trying to accomplish here, but I’m not in the habit of discussing personal matters with people I do not know and do not trust.”

I turned again and stared into the fog. She was glowering at me, figuring out her next move.

“Back at Pi’s sunken ship,” she said, “when you resurfaced, Captain Bak was in battle with So Iseul. Do you know why?”

“No. And I don’t want to hear it.”

“But now that I’ve told you there is something to know, it’s under your skin. You will decide to inquire further eventually, so we might as well cut to the chase, hm?”

Oh good grief. I nodded, cursing myself.

“After you dove underwater, Iseul made a remark regarding your relationship with the captain. She compared you to his mothers — company for hire, a courtesan, etcetera.”

“Well, that — that’s not very kind of her. But I don’t know what it has to do with me. I’m sure Haseong was defending his mothers.”

“Yes, he was. But he held himself back — for you. He understood the weight of confidentiality and what it means to vampires like you.”

“That just means he’s shrewd, responsible.”

“He is neither shrewd nor responsible — he’s all but a hooligan.”

I stood straighter, looking up at her. “I beg your pardon?” Lord Thundering Jesus, I did _not_ want to end up engaged in fisticuffs with this burly vampire just to defend Haseong’s honour.

Fei rolled her eyes, setting one hand atop my head. “Calm down, bèndàn. You obviously haven’t heard the legends.”

“He has _legends?_ Isn’t he, like, twenty-four?”

“All it takes to cultivate a mythos is a gallery of quotable hoots and hollers and a worldly grapevine. I recall a story I heard some five years ago — he was a new captain, high off his first raid, and decided to spend his cut of the winnings on alcohol. He became heavily inebriated, belligerent, and fought every man in the alehouse, as well as the constables that came to arrest him. He narrowly escaped the gallows by faking rabies and stealing a police horse.”

I blinked. “Gracious.”

“My point is that, by all accounts, Captain Bak was never shrewd nor responsible. At least, not until he was murdered, resurrected and faced with — you. I have the feeling you take his attentiveness for granted. Whether or not it had sincere beginnings, the result is something special, wouldn’t you agree?”

I looked over my shoulder again. Haseong was idly plying the rim of his hat, the woven one I had given to him the day we’d met. He’d kept it safe, unsullied.

“You gave him that hat,” Fei murmured, half statement, half question.

I didn’t let my smile get the better of me. “You simply have no tact whatsoever.”

Her lips puckered, like she was trying not to smile as well. I watched the water below for a moment before I spoke again.

“Looking back, I... I just can’t tell what was real and what wasn’t. When he kissed me, was he thinking ‘this is a person I want to kiss’ or was I simply… _there_ again?” I sighed, rubbing my temples. “Perhaps I’m being too cynical. Somebody once told me that I care too much, too quickly, and it never ends well for me.”

“Who said that?”

“Er, maybe I said it to myself.”

“If I may offer advice… as you clearly care for him, at least give it your all before you cut and run. Love accommodates no passive party.”

I nodded. She was actually making sense. “Thank you. Perhaps it was presumptuous, but I didn’t take you for a romantic.”

“Your presumption was correct. I detest sentimentalism, though I suppose I feel some sort of an obligation to foster romance.”

“Altruistic.”

“Hardly. Your courtship is to my advantage as well; if you and the captain had a falling out, our company would be down one soldier.”

She was sounding like herself again. “All right then. We just spent an awkward amount of time discussing my love life — what about you? You have a husband, don’t you?”

I’d seen her smile before, but not like this, not where it touched her eyes and made her look human.

“Say it again.”

“What?”

“That I have a husband.”

“Uh. You have a husband… don’t you?”

“Yes. Always.” She smiled for a moment more, but abruptly the warmth cooled. Her eyes narrowed into the distance. “So Iseul and Huan Shao are about to blow Captain Eogeum’s ship out of the water.”

I stuttered — the change of subject gave me whiplash. “What? Why? How do you know?”

“I overheard them planning to steal his key by raiding his ship. They’re ambushing him now — can’t you see?”

I looked into the horizon, the water shimmering in the grey morning light. I recognized Myung’s ship — sleek and spotless, wary of the smaller ship approaching, Jolly Roger shuddering in the wind.

“I’m hesitant to get involved,” Fei mused. “With the crews mixing, I doubt I’ll be able to board the vessel undetected.”

“We should tell Haseong.”

“Too late.” She smiled. “Boom.”

The first cannon rang out in the distance, voices surged from the ships. I turned to the helm — Haseong was running down from the quarterdeck, hands over his ears.

I started toward him, acting on instinct. He looked up at me and stopped, held his hands out.

“N-no,” he shook his head, “y-you don’t have to.”

“Haseong, I—”

“I-I’m sorry.” He ran past me and disappeared belowdecks.

I squeezed my eyes shut. Why did this all feel so terribly wrong?


	11. Chapter 11

Standing at the helm next to Fei, I watched Iseul and Shao’s crew storm the rival ship. Blades were drawn, bullets and cannon balls hailed down, slain men plunged into the ocean. It was difficult to witness the carnage, but as Fei reminded me, it was in our interest. Whoever had claimed Myung’s key by the time the raid was over, was our target as well.

I had the feeling Haseong would have enjoyed this; it reminded me of gambling. I found myself weighing the odds, making my own petty bets. Myung’s company was sizeable and polished, but Iseul and Shao were seasoned, they knew how to lead their crew while handling themselves at the same time.

Iseul especially was deft and deadly with a sword in her hands. From the second she swung onto the other ship, blood was spraying and men were falling at her feet. Her sights were set on Myung. I momentarily sympathized with him; from what I knew of Iseul, he would be spared no mercy once she had him at the point of her blade.

“They will take Captain Eogeum’s key,” Fei murmured. “I suppose Haseong and Iseul will get the duel they’ve been waiting for.”

I cringed at the thought. “Do you think anyone will try to steal our keys?”

“We’ve done well at concealing them, but the fact that you two are still pursuing the treasure despite your perceived lack of success — and since so many keys are unaccounted for — someone may work it out for themselves.”

“I’m sure everyone will have plans to take the ones they don’t have. Should we have a plan too?”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve thought it all through.”

“We should discuss it with Haseong.”

“That is not necessary. All you two need to do is search for the remaining keys.”

I looked back at the ship in the distance. Water was flooding in through breaches in the hull; the crewmen were scrambling into a lifeboat. Myung was not among them. Iseul and Shao had shoved off already, still firing their guns in a show of conquest.

I looked up at Fei. “You won’t kill Iseul and Shao, will you?”

She met my eyes. “I am not Captain Bak. In other words, I will not settle so easily into the palm of your hand. Speaking of your swain, any idea when he’ll be up from the bilge?”

“Um. Surely once Iseul and Shao let up with the explosions.”

“Am I to suppose he’s afraid of gunfire?”

“He isn’t afraid, he just doesn’t like it.”

She laughed, high and ringing. “Bak Haseong, pirate kingpin, pitiless corsair — frightened by a little bang and pow. How poor.”

“Don’t be callous, we all have fears.”

She waved her hands in surrender. “As you say, Mother Bang. And of course, not to worry — his secret is safe with me.”

* * *

Once again, Haseong and I rowed to shore cooped up in the little lifeboat. Normally I wouldn’t shy away if there was discord between us, but the silence now felt untouchable. What should I say? Was he angry with me? Was I supposed to be angry with him as well?

“Chan, don’t be awkward,” he said suddenly.

“I — what? I’m not awkward. Why would you think that?”

“Your lips move when you talk to yourself.”

I closed my mouth. “Noted, I’ll fix that.”

“Did Iseul and Shao take down Myung’s ship?”

“Um, yes. Fei said she has a plan to claim the remaining keys.”

“That’s good — I have nothing. I thought we’d just run in screaming and leave the rest up to fate.”

He hadn’t given up, had he? I wanted to reassure him, promise him — I’ll get the treasure for you. I repeated it to myself like a prayer, this time keeping my mouth closed.

The boat ran ashore and we climbed out. There were footsteps leading up the beach, as well as a few varied human odours, none of which I was particularly pleased to have become familiar with.

“Your silk thingies,” Haseong said.

This would be regrettable, I could tell already. I took the swatch from my pocket and nibbled out four little pieces. I held his face, placed the black fabric over his bright red irises, and he did the same for me. His hand lingered, cupping my cheek, but he took it away as he met my eyes. Regrettable indeed.

Not too far into the woods, there was an arched adit embedded in the steep cliffside. Haseong and I entered the tunnel carefully, swords drawn. I could see flecks of raw diamond in the dirt walls, scattered on the ground, though the mine looked long abandoned.

At the end of the mineshaft, several smaller tunnels diverged, some left and right, some downward into the earth. I could hear voices from nearly every passageway, all blended together and muddled by echoes.

“Split up?” Haseong asked. “Or would you rather stick together…?”

“Let’s split up — we’ll cover more ground. I’ll take this one.” Though the voices were intriguing, the only tunnel without piqued my curiosity.

“Search quickly — and mind yourself, okay? I think we’re the last to arrive.”

I nodded and headed down the tunnel. It was long and narrow, lit by whale oil lanterns. There was nothing at the end, not a voice or footsteps or a heartbeat, just the pitter-patter of dirt and gentle hands against something solid. I recognized the scent — dust and tree sap and decades-old wool. Fei.

I shot to the end and stepped into a lopsided chamber. Fei was on the far side, palms against a massive exposed slab of diamond. Trapped inside was a key — the final key.

“Oh my God,” I murmured. “You found it. How did it get in there?”

“The rock is part of Pi’s fortune, the key must have been manually inserted somehow.”

“That’s great — we can look for the opening and get it out that way.”

“We needn’t trouble ourselves with particulars.”

She slammed her fist into the diamond. The impact reverberated through the walls, dirt trickled down from the ceiling. The diamond was fractured beneath her hand.

I sighed. “Alright, good enough.”

“I have the key covered — you go with Haseong. He’ll need a voice of reason in his ear, now especially.”

I nodded and fled back up the tunnel. The ground quivered again as she pounded away at the bedrock. I admit, I likely would have done something similar if I’d found the key. It was all I wanted. Almost all.

I followed Haseong’s trail down the tunnel with the clearest voices. It was Ahn Kwangsun, from what I could tell. We still needed his key to complete the set — hopefully Haseong hadn’t done anything reckless in my absence.

“Your bullheadedness is endlessly annoying — can’t you see I’ve won?”

For a second I was frightened, and then I saw Haseong, safe, crouching toward the end of the tunnel. I came up behind him and peeked over his shoulder.

This chamber was much, much larger — the final destination. Iseul and Shao were restrained by crewmen, beaten and bloody on their knees, and Kwangsun was standing in front of them, turning a copper key between his fingers.

“He took their key,” I said on a breath. “Where are their crew?”

“Dead or restrained in the other tunnels.” Haseong’s voice was neutral. “You should have heard Iseul trying to get the key back. I thought an animal was being tortured.”

“It was never a fair fight, you coward,” she growled. “Give me my sword and we’ll see who comes out on top.”

Kwangsun tapped his blade against her chin. “You see, while you’re caught up with fighting fair, calling me names like a hot-tempered schoolgirl, I have a fortune waiting for me on the other side of this wall.”

“You’re a delusional nitwit if you think the treasure is yours for the taking! You’ve only two keys and nary a wit to use them!”

He rolled his eyes. “Christ’s sake, woman, shut your trap. When was the last time that pretty mouth of yours did anything but twaddle?”

Iseul lurched to her feet, struggling against her restraints — a crewman came forward and punched her in the gut. She collapsed to her knees, spitting blood out of her mouth. Haseong and I both held our breath.

“Iseul, don’t fight,” Shao murmured. “There’s no use, not anymore.”

“Ah, finally a sound mind to stymie the hysteria,” Kwangsun chirped.

“Don’t be cocky, Captain. You haven’t even half the keys.” There was an edge in Shao’s voice that I hadn’t heard before, fierce and spiteful.

“Are you sure about that? I am a man of means and intellect — don’t you think I have a contingency?”

“I hid a key.” A smile was growing on Iseul’s face. “The third key, the one that fell into the lake. I left it somewhere no one would be able to find it.”

Kwangsun bent down to grab Iseul’s face, yanked it up to his. “Little liar. The only key you have, you took off Eogeum’s corpse. What gave you the idea you would get anywhere in this race without Bak?” He laughed, loud and acidic. “You really should have kept him in your company. Embarrassing, isn’t it? Second-rate to a damned sodomite.”

Iseul spat in his face.

The silence was loaded, my entire body was tense. I didn’t want them to be killed. I didn’t care if they were just as cruel as they claimed Haseong to be — they didn’t deserve to die.

Kwangsun wiped his arm across his face, eyes hard on Iseul’s. “I will kill you.”

“Then do it, rat.”

Kwangsun shoved Iseul’s face down, straightened out, twirling the sword in his hand. “Again, annoyingly bullheaded. I wouldn’t act so brave if I were you, poppet.”

He grabbed Shao by the hair and raised his sword. Shao squeezed his eyes shut, crying his partner’s name.

“No,” Iseul gasped, “not him, please!”

“Do not fret,” Kwangsun said, a mock smile on his face, “I will make it swift.”

Then I was running. Haseong hissed my name, grabbed at my shirt, trying to stop me, but the sword was powerful in my hands, and the scream of steel against steel was instantaneous, too fast to stop.

Kwangsun’s mouth was hanging open. “How did you…?”

“Uh.” Lord above, what was I supposed to do now? “Unhand them. Please.”

His lip quirked up. He thrust his sword around but I blocked it with mine. Our weapons clashed together like bells tolling. Not once in my life had I wielded a sword, but his actions were easy to predict, his eyes shifted from one place to another before his blade followed.

Inside his coat pocket, I could hear copper scuffing against cotton. The key was so close. My caution started to wane; I advanced, pushing him back, my sword against his. His eyebrows furrowed — he could feel strength in me, suddenly he understood I was a threat.

“Backup,” he shouted.

At first I thought it was a command, and then two pairs of hands grabbed me from behind, yanked me away, wrested my sword. I had to stop myself before I hurled them across the room; no matter how much I wanted to take advantage of my gifts, there were too many eyes on me, too much at stake.

“Get your hands _off_ him.” Haseong ran up, teeth bared, and punched one of them in the face. I held him back before he could take it too far.

“If it isn’t the man of the hour,” Kwangsun laughed.

Haseong drew his bayonet, aimed it at Kwangsun’s head. “Shut your fucking mouth, Ahn.”

“Or what? You’ll shoot me with your little prop?” He laughed again, mocking. “I don’t think you will.”

“What are you talking about?”

Kwangsun drew his pistol from his belt and fired it into the ceiling. Haseong collapsed, a tremor rocking his body; I got to my knees and wrapped my arms around him. How did Kwangsun know about Haseong’s weakness?

“Haseong, what the hell’s wrong with you?” Iseul shouted. “Get up!”

“Ahn, just let us go,” Shao pleaded. “The race is over, the keys are lost, none of us will claim the treasure.”

“If you truly believe that, you underestimate the tricks Captain Ahn has up his sleeve.”

The voice came from behind us. I turned to see Fei standing by the entrance, eyes hidden beneath the same black veil she was wearing when I first saw her. She strolled across the room, passed us and took Kwangsun’s outstretched hand.

“Success, my darling?” he asked.

She looked down and gave me a smile. “Unequivocally.”

She reached into her pocket and pulled out four copper keys. She had them all.


	12. Chapter 12

I was still hunkered down on my knees, arms around Haseong’s shaking frame, as I stared up at Fei. Just earlier today I had spoken to her as an ally, a friend — we spoke about trust. Now she was standing before me, arm in arm with the enemy, handing over Pi’s copper keys — the keys we had claimed together.

“You’re dead,” Iseul said from behind us. “I watched you drown.”

Fei didn’t bother to look up. She was loading bullets into a pistol. “Spare me your idiotic mumblings, Captain So. It isn’t my fault your cunning only reaches to the end of your sword.”

“Miss Ngai was to act as a double agent,” Kwangsun said. “Pretend to drown, infiltrate Captain Bak’s company and steal his keys. It was all my plan, if anyone is curious.”

Fei rolled her eyes minutely.

I couldn’t raise my voice above a murmur. “You lied to us.”

Her veil showed nothing but a satirical smile. “Oh dear Mr. Bang, I thought you would understand by now. Wherever you think I am, I’m always two steps ahead. Besides, you always have been too quick to trust, haven’t you?”

A snarl hissed past Haseong’s lips. “I _told_ you what would happen if you betrayed us.”

“Is that supposed to intimidate me? A nebulous threat from a man huddled on the ground like a beetle?”

Haseong was about to get to his feet, but Fei raised her gun to the ceiling and fired. He threw his hands over his ears, dropped back to his knees.

“Fei, stop!” I growled.

She just smiled, walked forward and plucked the woven hat off Haseong’s head. “This is farewell. I expect to see you both soon.” She winked at me.

“Tars, restrain them,” Kwangsun called to his crew. Two men came over and held us down, next to Iseul and Shao. Haseong hung his head, whispering under his breath. _It’s all my fault._

“It’s time, my dear,” Kwangsun said to Fei. The two turned and brushed their hands over the back wall. The layer of dirt, cobweb and specks of diamond fell away, a wall of begrimed metal appeared underneath. A panel was embedded at eye-level, notched with patterns in the shape of a six-pointed sun.

Fei and Kwangsun pressed each of the keys into the corresponding slots. Something in the wall clicked, clanked and thrummed, the sound of locks aligning. Kwangsun gave the wall a rough shove — spiders skittered, the remaining dirt fell away as a door cracked open before them.

Kwangsun was pumping his fist, nearly barking in triumph. Fei pushed past him, through the door. Some crewmen left their watch and followed into the hidden room.

Immediately Iseul started bucking and thrashing. Her guard just laughed.

“Keep struggling, wench. It’s quite funny.”

“Unhand me _right now_ or I will wrest your head from your neck!”

“What she means to say is,” Shao said quickly, “we’ll pay you gentlemen handsomely if you let us go.”

“Save it,” the man holding me down said. “We’ve no use for your meagre bribes now that Captain Ahn has discovered the treasure.”

“You’re both simpletons if you expect a damned cent in addition to your fixed stipend,” Iseul said. “With Pi’s fortune, what need does Ahn even have for a pirate crew anymore?”

They continued arguing and negotiating with little success. I’d never wanted to resort to violence more in my life; a kick to the ankle, an elbow to the forehead, would free me. I could hear Fei and Kwangsun in the hidden room, chests opening, gold coins pinging, paper money scuffing against the pad of a thumb. Those were _our_ winnings.

Then there was another sound. It came from above, echoes in the earth, repetitive like footsteps. I closed my eyes, blocked out the voices around me and focussed…

_“Fan out! The pirate scum are somewhere in these tunnels!”_

Oh Lord. The navy.

“Haseong,” I whispered.

He was controlling his breathing, hunkered over so his knees pressed to his chest. As soon as I said his name, he understood, his eyes opened.

“Blast it.”

The footsteps were getting close, the rattle of guns getting louder; within a few seconds, Kwangsun’s henchmen caught on. Just as the naval officers flooded into the chamber, the crewmen broke into a sprint headed for the hidden room.

The door swung closed before they could make it inside. They turned back to the troop of men still plowing in through the tunnel, drew their swords and guns. The sailors reciprocated.

A barrage of gunfire. The smell of blood permeated the air.

Haseong crushed his arms over his head, crumpled to the ground. I moved toward him but a man grabbed my arm, yanked me to my feet. I spun around and shoved him hard — he flew backward, heels over head and slammed into the wall across the room.

Oh no. I hurt him. I clutched my hands to my chest.

Somebody else grabbed me, bound my wrists together with rope — I knew better than to fight again. Another was dragging Haseong out of the chamber, Iseul and Shao close behind. The other officers were pounding on the immovable metal door. Surely the secret room had an exit of its own; Fei and Kwangsun may have already made their escape.

The sailors escorted us out of the mine, into the forest’s dim daylight. Haseong had his head down, twitching like the guns were still going off. He hardly reacted as one of the men said his name.

“Bak Haseong, confirm your identity… speak!”

He just turned his head back halfway, nodded. I could see his fangs pushing out behind his lips. He was trying incredibly hard to control himself.

“Huan Shao?” they said next.

Shao muttered an affirmative.

“So Iseul?”

“Get your hands off me, you white bastards!”

They took that as a confirmation. “Ahn Kwangsun?”

They were addressing me. “Uh. No. Ban… Chun?”

“Very clever,” Iseul scoffed.

“For the crime of piracy, including the murder of numerous naval officers and robbery of His Majesty King George IV’s vessel, you four are hereby sentenced to death by hanging.”

They forced us through the bounds of the forest, onto the beach where rowboats were waiting. We were transported to one of the many ships anchored in the water, watched by rifles once again. Farther along, I could see our ship had been reclaimed. Iseul and Shao’s ship as well, but Kwangsun’s was nowhere to be seen.

Haseong looked like a wire pulled taut. I inched my shoe toward his, nudged him.

He kept his head down, whispered too quietly for a human to hear. “The silk has worn off.”

When he looked up, I saw his eyes were bright red, not dulled by the fabric anymore. Wonderful, even more to worry about.

“Keep your eyes closed,” I whispered back. “Hang on.”

The sailors ushered us aboard, then walked on our heels as we struggled down several sets of ladders. I could surmise where they were taking us — not only because the ship was the same make and model as the one Haseong and I had sailed. They unlocked the heavy door to the brig, a room of grungy jail cells under leaky ceilings, lit only by lanterns and one small porthole.

“Put them in separate cells,” said one of the sailors. “And Bak stays tied up. Wouldn’t want the journey to be too comfortable for him, now would we?”

The men shoved each of us into our own cells and locked us in. As soon as they left the room, Iseul set to work circling her cell, kicking at the bars, looking for an out. Haseong sequestered himself as far as he could from the humans, legs folded up to his chest. I pulled the swatch of creased fabric from my pocket and bit away at it.

“This is _not_ how I wanted the day to close.” Iseul was jostling an empty wooden box left in her cell. “Please tell me you have your picklock.”

Shao was laying like a plank on the floor. “If I recall correctly, it’s in the drawer of the nightstand, next to everything else that might be helpful in a predicament like this.”

“Goddamnit. Fuck the navy — and fuck Kwangsun and that battle axe by his side.”

While the two were distracted, I sidled up to the edge of my cell and whispered Haseong’s name. He came to me, leaned close so I could reach through the bars and replace the silk in his eyes.

“Have mine worn off?” I asked.

“Yours are okay. I… may have been crying, I think they disintegrated faster because of it.”

I sighed. I wanted to say something to comfort him — I wanted to say a lot of things — but separate cells of a military lockup felt like an awkward place to do it.

“Hey,” said Iseul, “what are you two doing?”

We met eyes, and then he turned his back to me. “He’s untying me.”

“Er, yeah.” I pulled at the knot binding his wrists together.

She was squinting at us through the bars. Her face was grave and dubious, as usual, still bleeding from her nose and a cut on her forehead. “At least I know you’re not a demon, Bak. A demon would have freed himself by now, he wouldn’t have let a little gunfire frighten him like a mouse.”

“Watch your tongue. I may yet be a demon.” I poked his back; he sighed and said, “All I am is a human. Keep the guff to yourself, I don’t want to hear it.”

She scoffed through her nose and paced in her cell.

I already had the knot figured out, but I was hesitant to pull it loose. “Haseong, are you okay? Tell the truth.”

I saw his head shake. “I was stupid to trust her. I should have torn her apart the moment she invaded our ship.”

“Something about it… it’s not right. I feel like she was trying to tell me something.”

“You’re doubting whether she betrayed us?”

“I don’t know, I’m not sure.”

“It’s easier for you to trust _Fei_ than to trust me?”

I was caught off guard; my words stumbled. “Look, Haseong—”

“Never mind, don’t say anything. I’m… wound up. The gunfire, I can’t explain what it does to me. And besides that, the blood coming off those two is… difficult to ignore. Iseul sneezes once and I might lose control entirely.”

I bit my lip. I could feel his agitation, I wanted nothing more than to allay it.

Finally I pulled the ropes away, got up and crossed my cell. Shao was still laying on his back, hat over his face.

“Captain Huan?”

He lifted the hat, looked up at me suspiciously. “Yes?”

“I don’t mean to be a bother, but the lesions on your face seem rather serious.”

“What’s it to you?” Iseul was at the bars again, protective of her partner.

“I could help you clean yourself up — wounds should not go unattended.”

“How do you intend to treat them?”

I shrugged off my coat — fine wool, part of a sailor’s uniform — and tore a piece of the lapel. “I’ve no medical supplies, but we can make do.”

“How do we know you won’t reach through the bars and throttle him?” Iseul asked.

“Why would I do that?”

“Maybe Bak put you up to it.”

Haseong spoke up. “As much as I’d love to settle the score, Chan would likely disown me if I even suggested it.”

Shao sat up, shifted toward the bars. “I appreciate the gesture, Mr. Bang. If I could be such a nuisance?”

“Of course.” I rolled up the fabric and dipped it into a puddle under the dripping ceiling.

“Wait, how do you know the water isn’t tainted?” Iseul said.

“It’s just sea water.” I passed the fabric through the bars. “No gasoline, mould, excreta, etcetera. I, er, have a good sense of smell.”

Shao blotted away at the cut on the side of his face, cringing. “I hadn’t expected Ahn’s crew to be so brutal.”

“I’ll kill everyone who touched you,” Iseul murmured grimly.

“You said the same thing about Yu Chinwha’s crew,” Haseong said. “And how many of them did you do away with?”

“The greater sum, actually.”

Haseong looked at her. “Really?”

“We met them at the first key. I took the opportunity.”

Haseong’s jaw clicked in and out. “Well. They deserved it.”

“Captain So?” I held out another dampened cloth.

She sniffed through her bloody nose, shrugged and reached out for it. Shao passed it to her. She growled against the pain and palmed her upper abdomen. I noticed her breathing patterns were irregular.

“Are you hurt?” I motioned to her hand.

She shrugged again. “It’s tolerable.”

“Take a deep breath please, slowly.”

She looked rankled to be given orders, but did as I said. As her lungs expanded, I could hear misaligned bones clicking and grinding together. Her tenth and eleventh ribs were fractured.

I rolled up my jacket and passed it through the bars. “I’m afraid two of your ribs are broken. Use this as a splint.”

She looked at me curiously, wrapping the jacket around her torso. “Are you some kind of a doctor?”

“I have… experience with the sick, though I’m not trained.”

“There’s more to you than meets the eye, Mr. Bang,” said Shao. “We appreciate this.”

Iseul concurred with a grunt, shifting onto the floor of her cell. “To be fair, a few broken bones won’t matter much when we’re dangling from the gibbet.”

“Don’t say that,” said Shao. “This isn’t what the end looks like. I promise you.”

His hand snuck through the bars. Iseul laced their fingers together.

I glanced over at Haseong. He met my eyes and quickly looked away.


	13. Chapter 13

In 1775, I had been squatting in a grotto on the eastern coast of Newfoundland. It seemed regrettably fitting that, only a few months after I’d arrived, the most devastating hurricane to date had razed the landscape. The ceiling of the grotto had succumbed to the storm, caved in and trapped me inside, a one-ton block of stone jamming the only exit.

It was one of the rare occasions I’d needed to use my strength to overcome a predicament. The solid rock had crumbled under my hands, fallen at my feet as dust and pebbles.

The rusty rolled steel of the jail cell was puny in comparison. I imagined forcing the door open with the feather-light touch of my littlest finger, plucking the bars from the floor like daisies from a meadow. Of course I couldn’t exercise my fantasies, not as long as humans were there to witness. A difficult conundrum called for a clever solution, but in such dire and sparse surroundings, ideas were sparse as well.

“Chan, has a vampire ever died by hanging before?”

Haseong’s voice was too low for anyone but me to hear. He was sitting back in his cell, catching the water drip-dropping from the ceiling in his palm.

“No,” I said. “Our spinal columns are too strong.”

“It’s odd. I always expected to die by execution, but now that I’m finally on my way, I have a feeling _not dying_ is going to be the bigger problem.”

“You’re right.” I got up to pace my cell. “We need to escape before we arrive at the gallows.”

“It’ll be difficult. Every step from the brig to the noose will be watched by a dozen humans and even more guns. Iseul’s plan is the best bet, though it’s doomed anyway.” Iseul and Shao were planning to make a run for it as soon as the cells were unlocked. “I doubt they’ll make it to the deck, let alone off the ship.”

“I wish we knew where we’re going, then we could plan more precisely.” All the wind told me was that the ship was sailing southwest. I might have been able to discern more if the sun wasn’t hiding behind the clouds.

“Judging by the name of the ship, we’re either en route to Mirsley Bay, Oakland Bay, Clover Haven, Norcastle, Darbeawood, somewhere along the southern coast.” Haseong listed them off casually. “Mirsley Bay is a seaside town next to a forest — there may be an opportunity to escape before we’re in too deep.”

“What if we dock in one of the other towns?”

“To put it bluntly, we’re fucked. Even if we end up at Mirsley Bay, our escape won’t be exactly be ‘humanly possible.’ Their bullets won’t harm us, their men won’t catch up to us.”

“We have to try it. There’s nothing else to do.”

“Or we could leave no survivors.”

“Haseong.”

“What? Either we escape or we’ll be exposed on the gibbet.”

“Leaving a massacre behind us will be just as conspicuous as anything else. Besides, the Mirsley Bay option is still on the table. Maybe your phobia can help us. You won’t be able to keep going as the gunfire commences — that could give the impression you’ve been shot. I can carry you into the woods, then once we’re hidden in the trees, we’ll disappear. It’s not the perfect plan, but it’s all we have.”

He sighed, let his head fall back against the wall. “Alright. At least I won’t have to fake rabies again.”

I smiled a bit. “Fei told me about that.”

He smiled too, almost dreamily. “When I get my hands on her… she won’t think herself so haughty then, will she?”

“You’re going to kill her?”

“Of course I am. I told her she would pay for betraying me. Besides, how would it look if I left her alive? My reputation is down the plughole already — spurned by my co-captains, beaten by Ahn Kwangsun, outed as a coward _and_ a sodomite, homosexual, whatever the damned word is nowadays.”

I looked down at my twiddling thumbs. “So… you’ll be back to pirate things after this?”

“Suppose so. I don’t have many other options. What will… you do?”

Anything, I wanted to say. I just want to spend a little more of my life with you.

Iseul spoke before I could reply. “Hey… the ship has stopped.”

She was right. I felt the vessel bobbing in the gentle tide, heard the squawk of seagulls outside.

“Chan, help me.” Haseong crossed his wrists behind his back and I hurried to bind them together.

“I suppose this is goodbye, gentlemen,” Iseul said, cracking her knuckles. “I wish you luck in your future endeavours, Mr. Bang.” Her eyes switched to Haseong. “Bak.”

He gave her a fake smile.

“Good luck to both of you,” Shao said more amiably. “Here’s to none of us getting hanged today.”

The door to the brig swung open and four sailors entered, key rings and coils of rope in their hands.

“Today’s the big day, innit, ya freebooters?” They began to unlock our doors, smug grins on their faces. “Keep your chins up, eh? I’ve heard it only hurts for a minute or two.”

Iseul waited, tensed like a cobra until her door was open, and then plowed forward, slamming the crewman to the floor. The others rushed to grab her but Shao threw himself into the fray, smashed a wooden crate over one’s head and tripped another at the same time.

Via brute force and sheer luck, the pair sprinted out of the room, disappeared up the ladder. Two sailors gave chase while the others slammed our cells shut. Haseong and I were sitting innocently with our hands crossed behind our backs.

“Got any tricks up your sleeve, Bak?” one of them asked.

Haseong shrugged. “I’m not looking for a beating before I take the short drop.”

“Good on you. Now the both of you, get up, turn your backs, alright?”

We did as he said. The two came in and took us by the shoulders, ushered us out of our cells. I could hear the pandemonium above, grunts and growls, boots and bodies hitting the deck. We climbed to the main deck — Iseul and Shao were restrained on the ground.

“Don’t you realize you’re going to die today?” said one of the armed sailors. “I have half a mind to kill you right now.”

“I will not forget this!” Iseul snarled. “Each of you will face the vengeance of my blade!”

“Yeah yeah, shut your gob.”

They led the four of us off the ship, onto a broad dock that led to the beach ahead. There were sailors on all sides, guns raised. Iseul was still vowing retribution and Shao was wiping his bloody nose on his shoulder. Behind me, I heard Haseong’s lips curve into a smile.

“Chan,” he whispered. “This is Mirsley Bay.”

I looked ahead at the beach. Beyond was a forest, deep and dense, shouldering a village on the mountainside. I could see where we were to make our escape — the pause of sand where the trees and stone walls met.

“Soon as we step off the dock,” Haseong said, “throw your head back into his nose and make a run for it. When they start shooting, catch me. Can you do it?”

“Yes. Lord help us.”

The procession continued, footsteps in sync, and finally stepped ashore. I was ready to go, I was ready to run, but as the forest came closer, one little thing caught my eye. Something balanced on the branch of a spruce, stirring in the breeze.

Haseong’s woven hat. The one I’d made for him, the one Fei had taken.

‘I expect to see you both soon,’ she had said… and the wink, that damned wink.

The hat must have been there for a reason. Had she been on our side this whole time? I had to think fast; obviously she had a plan, I only wished I knew what part I was supposed to play.

“Chan, now,” Haseong whispered.

“No — stop.”

“What, why?”

“Keep moving, Bak,” said one of the sailors.

Haseong growled and complied. Within a few steps, we were off the beach, climbing a rickety flight of stairs up the cliffside. Our chance was gone.

“What the fuck, what happened?” he hissed at me.

I didn’t want to tell him about Fei’s clue; I had a feeling he would rather hang than consort with her again. “I have a hunch — a good one. Probably. Just trust me.”

“Trust you? Really?” There was acid in his voice.

“Haseong, please.”

He gritted his teeth together, went mum. I understood his trepidation. If I was wrong about Fei, I’d just ruined the only chance we had.

The party kept moving up the middle of the steep, winding cobblestone road; everyone who saw us stopped and stared. Some left their homes and followed us, knowing the execution would be public. Children looked upon us curiously, one even waved. I tried to wave back but a sailor tapped me with his rifle.

The gibbet was a frightful structure standing in the middle of the town square. A platform with four nooses suspended above four small stools, guarded by the hangman cloaked in black. The square was surrounded by a high stone rampart, humans were already crowded around, craning for a look at us. I heard Haseong’s name all around, Iseul and Shao’s as well.

I was the first to climb the set of stairs onto the platform. The sky was getting darker, clouds leaving it starless and matte. The sailors shoved us forward, told us to stand on the stools.

“I’m sorry, Iseul,” Shao murmured, his voice carved out, scared hollow. “We tried. We did.”

She blew out a shaky breath, murmured an I love you. The hangman moved the noose around her neck, placed a black hood over her head, then moved on to me. The fibres weren’t stitched tightly enough to impair my sight; I looked into the crowd of faces, the pleased and the priggish, none decidedly sympathetic. The rope was coarse and tight against my skin.

The hangman spoke. “May God have mercy upon your souls.”

A pair of sailors moved forward — the stools were about to be taken out from under us. I squeezed my eyes shut.

There were three sounds in whirlwind succession. The whistle of a narrow object flying through the air, taut ropes snapping loose and the thunk of razor-sharp stone piercing wood. Suddenly the noose was hanging slack from my neck.

The crowd, the sailors and the hangman were all looking upward. I followed their eyes.

There was a figure standing tall atop the rampart, a shadow against the falling darkness. She was armed with a bow, face shrouded by a black veil. She plucked an arrow out of her quiver, pulled it back against the string as her lip curled into a smile.

“Run.”


	14. Chapter 14

The crowd screamed and scattered as Fei shot arrow after arrow into the square, picking off sailors like fish in a barrel. I pried my hands apart, yanked off my hood and loosened the noose around my neck.

Iseul and Shao were running, still bound and hooded, through the frantic crowd. Some sailors were climbing the rampart, others kneeling on the ground, their guns following Fei as she ran along the parapet. They all fired at once.

I ran and caught Haseong before he fell to the ground. His arms locked around my neck, his panicked breath in my ear.

“Just a little longer,” I said. “We’ll be out soon, okay?”

I was trying to move him but he wouldn’t let me. “Wait wait, n-no, Chan—”

“Haseong, we have to go while we can—”

He pulled out of my arms, jumped off the platform and ran back into the crowd. Iseul and Shao were at the far corner of the square, back to back trying to untie each other. Neither of them saw the naval men rushing them from all sides.

Haseong reached them just seconds before the men did. He punched one in the face, threw him into another and knocked them both to the ground.

He was trying to save them. I rushed to help; Iseul and Shao were still bound and Haseong couldn’t take more than two humans at a time.

I yanked the hood off Shao’s head, tore his bonds loose, then moved on to Iseul. She took the rope, pushed past me and slung it around a sailor’s neck, kneeing him in the crotch. I ran to Haseong, grabbed one of his opponents from behind and shoved him down. Haseong dodged a blow but didn’t see a second man come up from behind.

An arrow pierced the man’s skull — he collapsed to the ground. Haseong and I spun around, looking for Fei. All I saw was the flick of a leather coat disappearing over the parapet.

We’d taken care of the first round, but another dozen were charging toward us. Shao called from an aperture in the rampart wall — the three of us ran to meet him. We ducked into the passage, leapt up the stone steps three at a time and came out on top. The walkway was the only barrier between the chaotic town square and a 100 foot drop into the ocean below.

“Freeze!”

Sailors were filing up the stairs, closing in from both directions, and others were loading their guns on the ground. We were trapped.

We looked over the side of the wall, down at the shimmering black water, and then at each other.

Iseul sighed and shrugged her jacket off. “Alright then. That’s our cue.”

The four of us stepped onto the parapet and jumped off the cliff.

For five thrilling seconds, I was airborne. My body hit the water, the current spun me topsy-turvy. The four of us swam away from the cliff. I could still hear voices from the square high above, see lanterns glow against the night sky.

The curve of the bay came to meet us; we pulled our sopping selves ashore and all but collapsed on the sand. I took off my shoes and poured the water out.

Shao crawled toward Iseul. “Are you okay?”

She was shivering, hugging her arms around herself. “If my ribs were broken before, now they must be dust.”

“C’mon, get up. There should be a hospital somewhere around here, we can find some morphine.”

He helped her to her feet, about to lead her away, but she stopped him.

“You,” she said to Haseong. “You saved us. Why?”

“Must I have a reason?”

“Bak, we tried to murder you, but you… saved us. That’s not like you.”

He shrugged. “I wasn’t a good partner. I mean, you two weren’t a walk in the park either, but… I’m sorry. I hope you know I don’t regret our company. It was… invaluable to me.”

Finally, injured and exhausted and drenched from head to toe, I saw a flicker of affection in Iseul’s eyes.

“Goodbye, Haseong.”

He looked up at her, smiled. “Iseul. I hope we never see each other again.”

“As do I.”

The pair bid me farewell, then hobbled into the forest behind us. Haseong was still smiling. We listened to their footsteps fade until the night was noiseless, just murmuring water and fluttering leaves.

“So,” he said. “How did you know Fei would swoop in to rescue us?”

“She left me a sign. I’m sorry I didn’t clue you in. I had the feeling you wouldn’t play along if you knew she was involved.”

“You were probably right.” He shook his head. “I was so ready to leave her for dead. I suppose she’s lurking right now, huh?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised.”

We went silent. I wanted to talk about us — us — but I didn’t know how to ignite the conversation. My emotions were jumbled in my head. The only certainty I could grasp was how striking he looked in the moonlight, chestnut-coloured hair falling loosely around his face.

“This is how I imagine you,” he murmured. “Peaceful, alone, on a beautiful night. Your natural habitat. I must have been a hurricane when we first met.”

“You were… something.”

“I’m sorry I swept you up in this.”

“I’m not.”

He was looking down, toying with a piece of seaweed between his fingers. “Chan, you don’t have to pretend this whole quest catastrophe has been anything but a waste of your time. I let it get out of hand. I wanted to… I should have…”

“Should have what?”

“I should have taken better care of you. When you care about a person, you protect them, you do what’s best for them, right?” He laughed ruefully. “I’m out of my depth. I don’t know if I’ve ever cared about someone the way I care for you. Not in the same way, at least.”

I shifted toward him but he didn’t meet my eyes. “You haven’t ‘wasted my time.’ The pirate stuff, the questing, it’s exciting, invigorating. I’m my own person — I came with you because I wanted to.”

“I led you on, I manipulated you.” He hung his head. “God, how could I be so callous? How could I break your trust?”

“Yes… that.” I sighed. “Look, I was in the wrong as well. I was being selfish, trying to protect myself. I should have given you the benefit of the doubt. I just… I was afraid that you were too good to be true.”

He looked up at me attentively. “Me?”

“You have a good heart, Haseong. I don’t want to lose you.”

“Could you… could you really forgive me? For everything?”

“As long as you can forgive me. I’m sorry I didn’t trust you. I’m sorry I… didn’t get the treasure for you. I so wanted to make you happy but I… failed.”

“No no no, you didn’t fail. I don’t need wealth, I never needed it — I need you.” His eyes were gentle and genuine. “All the treasure in the world…”

I leaned in to kiss him, cupping his face in my hands. Our eyes fell closed and the night fell away. He couldn’t stop his smile from breaking the kiss; we sat with our foreheads pressed together, hands interlaced between us.

“What say you, Captain Bang?” he murmured then. “A little villainy as a nightcap?”

“What do you have in mind?”


	15. Chapter 15

Under the cover of darkness, Haseong and I passed through the town that, only earlier today, had sought to execute us. The mess of bodies had been cleaned up, the gibbet dismantled. We scaled the cliffside stairway, looking out at the naval ships and fishing boats moored in the moonlight.

We ran down the beach and onto the dock. Haseong leapt aboard a boat while I cut its spring lines. As the mainsail fell from the mast, the guards on the dock across from ours took notice.

“Oi, what’s going on?”

“Get the jib!” Haseong called, heading for the helm. I darted to swing the boom around — the ship inched to a start as the sail caught the wind. The guards left their positions and chased us down the dock.

Haseong spun the wheel to the side, steering us past a navy ship. I grabbed a rope hanging from the mast and pulled myself aboard, then flung it back to Haseong.

The guards, realizing their blunder, turned a 180 and ran back toward the other dock. Again, too late — we were sailing away in a ship thrice the size of the first. I let myself take petty pleasure in waving goodbye to the infuriated figures shrinking into the distance.

A pair of arms wound around my waist from behind, a pair of lips pressed to my neck.

“If I may be so forward,” he murmured, “every time I’m near you — it is harrowing, borderline impossible, to keep my hands off you.”

I smiled. “Then don’t.”

We stumbled toward the great cabin in a grasping embrace. I searched blindly for a doorknob, swung the door open and pulled him inside by his lapels.

Suddenly a voice. “Would you cut that out for five seconds?”

I yanked my shirt down. _“Again?!”_

Fei was standing in front of us, arms crossed over her chest. “I rescue you lot like kittens stuck in a tree and then you scuttle off without so much as a thank you?”

“We figured you would catch up.” Haseong’s voice was cold. “If you would be so kind as to get the hell out of here?”

“Aw, Captain, are you angry with me?” She snorted. “This is our new ship, is it not? I was here first anyway.”

Haseong and I glanced at each other, still adjusting our clothes and fixing our hair.

“Are you going to explain what happened in the mine?” I asked.

“The honest truth is, Kwangsun and I were conspiring from the start, though I always planned to betray him eventually. I suppose you would call that a quadruple-cross?”

“Couldn’t you have clued us in on your plan? We might as well have been pawns to you.”

“In my experience, people best serve the greater good when they think they are the ones in control.”

“You mean they best serve you?”

“That’s what I said. Gentlemen, I give you my word of honour — no more lies, manipulation or deceit henceforth. Unless it is warranted, in which case, remember it’s in your interest. Probably.”

“You must understand why we are cautious,” I said. “How do we know you’re not attempting a sextuple-cross?”

“You have your doubts, perhaps, yet the moment you saw the captain’s hat, you immediately altered the course of your plan to accommodate a ‘grand scheme’ you weren’t even sure existed.”

She _was_ right, admittedly, even if her puckish insolence was in full swing. “Yes, well. The wink you gave me back at the mine was not very discreet.”

“Couldn’t leave everything up to chance, now could I?”

“Of course not,” said Haseong, “then you wouldn’t have been able to make a grandiose entrance at the town square.”

“That was a perk.” She dusted off her neat black leather ensemble. “They’re calling me the ‘Veiled Archer of Mirsley Bay.’ It’s rather literal, but I can live with it.”

“What made you choose a bow and arrow? I’d assume a carronade would be more your speed.”

The question made her frown. “It was one of the few rational choices that would not amplify the prospective barrage of gunfire.”

Haseong blinked. “You… you didn’t make a concession because of my _dislike_ for guns, did you?”

“It sounds horridly mawkish when you put it that way — so no.”

He ribbed me. “Look at that, she likes me.”

 _“I do not—”_ She straightened her back and composed herself. “Logic governs my actions and I will say no more on the matter.” She picked up Haseong’s woven hat from the bedside table and tossed it into his hands. “I hope you didn’t miss it terribly.”

He turned it around in his hands, examining it for wear and tear. He placed it on his head and spoke reluctantly, grudgingly.

“Thank you, Mrs. Ngai. Your strategies are perpetually upsetting and excessively complex, but they are proven to succeed.”

“Most of the time,” I muttered.

Fei’s eyes drew to slits. “Pardon?”

“You crossed, double-crossed and triple-crossed, but the treasure is still lost to us. It’s all right, of course — maybe… maybe we were never meant to have the treasure.”

The puckishness returned to her expression, a childish delight. She waved us aside and strode out onto the main deck.

“How does that old saying go? ‘So close you can almost hear it’?” She raised her hands to her ears. “Oh, what is that? Can you hear it too?”

Haseong and I looked at each other and then back at her.

Fei tugged a hatch open, descended the step ladder, and Haseong and I followed. I knocked into him as he abruptly froze in place.

In the small, undecorated room, four or five wooden chests were spilling over with coins from all around the globe, jewelry made of the rarest taaffeite and painite gems, bullion bars stacked atop one another and golden nuggets covering nearly every inch of floor. Captain Pi Heiran’s treasure.

“But do go on, Mr. Bang,” Fei said. “You were lamenting what was not meant to be?”

Haseong’s eyes were wide. “Ahn…?”

“Dear Kwangsun’s demise was both unexpected and entirely my own doing. I trust the fishes are keeping him company.”

Her words waltzed in one ear and out the other. I didn’t even care that she had murdered him — good riddance. How glorious greed could feel. The treasure was _ours._

Haseong looked back at me. “I know what I said earlier, but…”

I laughed. “What’s the expression about having your cake and eating it too?”

“That it is excellent and comes highly recommended.” Fei was gnawing on a coin.

Haseong lifted my hand and kissed it. The red in his eyes was abating to gold, a lovelier glow than any other in the room. The quirk of his lips was made of mischief.

“Wherever shall we go now?”


	16. epilogue

##### 2018

The world changes in such subtle, imperceivable ways. The difference in the piers and docks, in the nuts and bolts holding it all together. The difference in the ships — sleek and buffed aluminum bodies instead of mildew-covered oak, billowing sails made from polyester instead of cotton canvas.

I trusted one thing would always be the same. The sea.

Standing at the very edge of the bow, I opened my arms and sucked in a lungful of salty air. The ocean had not been my home for almost 150 years, but each time I came back, the familiar babble of water and squall of seagulls welcomed me like a jolly childhood friend.

I rubbed my palms together. “What do you think, boys? Ready to sail?”

I turned and saw my family standing on the deck, staring down at the iPhones in their hands.

“You really brought your phones?” I said disbelievingly. “All of you?”

“Sorry, Chan.” Minho was taking pictures of Jisung against the cloudless blue sky. “My mom asked for photos.”

“I’m ordering iFood,” said Hyunjin. “I have to make an offering if the seagulls are gonna crown me their supreme overlord.”

“Changbin’s on Twitter calling people piss babies,” Jeongin snitched.

“Well spongegar_6969 is _being_ a piss baby,” Changbin grumbled.

I sighed. “As long as it’s… necessary.”

Jisung flinched as a seagull flew over his head. “Minho, can you please just take the picture?”

“You keep moving and fucking up the panorama.”

“But the birds are trying to kill me!”

_“Ahoy, me hearties!”_

Felix rode a full circle on the mainsail, dismounted with a diving somersault and landed in Changbin’s arms. He was dressed in breeches, an eyepatch and a tricorne hat — a pirate costume he bought from Party City.

“Felix, you look ridicu—” Jisung shrieked and darted across the ship to escape a swooping seagull. Minho filmed him.

“What was that, Jisungie?” Felix cupped his ears, feigning attention. “Sorry, can’t hear ya over the sound of my own radness.”

“I’m pretty sure pirates never said ‘ahoy’ or ‘me hearties,’” said Seungmin.

“We did sometimes, actually.” Haseong was assisting him with his myriad of suitcases. “At this point it’s lost all meaning. Jesus, Seungmin, how much shit did you have to take from home?”

“Look, if this bucket goes down, I’m not gonna do the ‘Cast Away’ thing with the bivouacking and the loin cloths. I brought tents, daily changes of clothes, forty-seven flare guns and, most importantly, my trusty Switch.”

“Alright.” I slapped my hands together to get their attention. “This should be a lovely time to set sail. We’re here to celebrate the sea — and of course, Felix’s early one-hundred-year deathday.”

“I’m still attached to the plane thing,” said Felix.

“You’re not doing the plane thing,” said Changbin.

“Wait, there’s my takeout guy!” Hyunjin leapt off the ship and fled up the dock. “Don’t leave without me!”

I hung my head. Haseong came over, tipped my face up and kissed me.

“You okay?”

“You’re gonna call me a fogey.”

“What is it?”

“They’re on their technologies! Here! I mean, look at the view!” I flung my hand at the horizon. “Haseong, you’re good at bossing them around — make them put the phones away.”

“I’m on it.” He turned and walked up to Felix, took the hat off his head and flipped it upside-down. “This is now a phone receptacle, deposit all phones here.”

Changbin and Minho put theirs in the hat, and Seungmin gave up both his phone and his Nintendo. Hyunjin returned to the ship, takeout in hand, and surrendered his phone as well. Haseong told them to form a line, then paced in front of them like they were a crew on their first day at sea.

“Now that we’re on the water, you will refer to us only as Captain Bang and Captain Bak. Sure, we’re here to celebrate the sea or whatever Chan said, but also because you asked to experience a day in the life of a pirate. So remember — you got yourselves into this.”

Felix, Jeongin and Hyunjin’s hands came up.

“Felix?”

“If we have to call you two captains, then I demand to be addressed as a viscount.”

“Absolutely not. Jeongin?”

“Referring to you as captains suggests a rank among crew members, and I feel I am worthy of a proper title.”

Haseong and I looked at each other and shrugged. “Jeongin is first mate then.”

Jeongin stood tall.

Hyunjin stepped forward. “Captains, I humbly ask permission to sprinkle bread on my body and offer myself to the seagulls.”

“Er. Okay.”

Minho flung his hand up as well. “Oh oh, I have a question too. Can I steer the big wheel?”

“Good initiative, boyo!” I put an arm around his shoulders and led him to the helm. Haseong directed the rest to weigh the anchor and release the sails.

I put Minho’s hands on the wheel and told him to steer right. “Have you ever been on a ship before?”

“Once. I threw up.” He cleared his throat. “But that was a while ago. Is this anything like the ones you used to sail?”

“Not exactly, though I think the design is meant to be evocative of the 1700s-pirate-esque style. You wouldn’t believe how dauntingly grand naval architecture was back then.”

“I have an idea — I watched Pirates of the Caribbean.”

“But have you heard the creak of real oak floorboards beneath your feet? Oil lanterns flickering in the dark? Cannon balls rolling around freely belowdeck?”

“Obviously I haven’t. But it sounds kinda romantic.”

I smiled. “I suppose it was in my case.”

Once wind filled the sails, the ship drifted away from the dock. The seagulls were still circling because of Hyunjin’s bready offering; he was sitting crosslegged with birds roosted on his head and shoulders.

Seungmin was leaning over the edge of the craft. “The SV Zelma-Marie… boring. Haseong, what were your ships called again?”

“The first was called the Devil’s Crib. My captain said it was because our wickedness would render Satan a wailing babe.” He whistled two batty notes, swirling his finger next to his ear. “The ship I ran with Iseul and Shao was called the High Roller — baccarat reference.”

Hyunjin tried not to disturb the birds while speaking. “What about your last ship? The one you captained with…” He hesitated to say the name.

Felix was balancing nimbly on the boom. “It’s alright, Hyunjin. What was her pick? ‘The Merciless Mace’ or some such?”

“Actually, she was dead set on one name from the beginning,” I said. “The Red Sun. She said it meant the harbinger of the revolution.”

Haseong rolled his eyes. “Bullshit, she just thought it sounded cool.”

“To be fair,” I said, “it’s a little cool. We couldn’t decide between the Red Sun and the Lover’s Hum, so we ended up painting the two names on either side of the ship and calling it a day.”

“Wait wait wait,” said Changbin. “‘Lover’s Hum’? What does that mean?”

“Haseong?” I smiled at him.

He sniffed through each nostril and grudgingly explained: “Chan would hum to me in our more tender moments. It was… the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard.”

Hyunjin awww-ed loudly, scaring the seagulls away in a flurry of feathers.

“We’ve got a softie here!” Seungmin called into the distance. “Big softie to the left port side!”

“You mean Captain Big Softie,” Minho said.

“Imagine a young, romantic Haseong,” Changbin mused.

“Imagine a Haseong without a stick up his ass,” Felix added.

“I’m literally right here,” Haseong said. “And I will maroon you, Felix, do not test me.”

“That’s Viscount Lee to you, sir.”

“There’s something I don’t understand,” Jeongin cut in. “You were pirates for a decade — successful ones. Where did all the treasure go?”

“We spent it,” I said. “First ship maintenance, reparations, clothes, then later on mortgages and insurance. And gambling.” I looked at Haseong and he looked over his shoulder.

“You’re saying you blew our entire inheritance?” Changbin gasped.

“Firstly, we’re incapable of death, and secondly, you are not our children.”

“Semantics,” said Felix.

“What would we even do with doubloons?” said Minho.

“I’m pretty sure doubloons don’t exist, love,” said Jisung.

“Aren’t they just double loonies?” Hyunjin tilted his head.

Haseong sighed, kneading his temples. “All of you, go batten down the hatches or something.”

Felix saluted and spun on his heel. “C’mon lads, let’s go pretend we know what that means.” The rest followed him belowdecks.

“Landlubbers,” Haseong muttered.

I turned to the bow again, leaned on the railing. He came up behind me, arms around my waist, chin on my shoulder.

“Do you ever miss it?” he asked. “Travelling? Piracy? I don’t know, youth?”

I laughed. “The sun always shines brighter in hindsight. I’m so perfectly content here and now. Aren’t you?”

He kissed along my shoulder. “Utterly. I love you. You know that, don’t you, Captain Bang?”

“As I love you.”

We watched the skyline for a moment, rocking slowly to the ocean’s rhythm. The feeling of his arms around me was so familiar, the only real home I had ever known.

“What do you think?” he said then. “Should I tell them?”

He was twirling a single gold coin between his fingers. I smiled, plucked it from his hand.

“Let’s keep it between you and me.”


End file.
